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Gods and Heroes 


OR 


THE KIHGDOM OF JUPITEH 



AUTHORIZED AMERICAN EDITION 



BOSTON, U.S.A. 

PUBLISHED BY GINN & COMPANY 

1896 




Copyright, 1894 

By K. E. FKANCILLON 


ALL, RIGHTS RESERVED 







GODS AND HEROES 


TO 

3franci0 jFcHi 

FOR WHOM 

mis BOOK WAS BEGUN 


PREFACE. 


HESE stories will, I trust, explain their own pur- 



pose ; but a few words touching their form are 
due to critical readers. 

It will be seen that the Mythology adopted through- 
out is strictly of the old-fashioned kind which goes to 
Ovid as its leading authority, and ignores the difference 
between the gods of Greece and the gods of Rome. I 
have deliberately followed this plan because, while there 
is not the remotest fear — quite the contrary — that 
young people, when or if they become scholars, will 
not be duly initiated into the mysteries of scientific and 
comparative mythology, there is considerable danger 
that the stories of the gods and heroes which have 
saturated literature, and have become essential portions 
of the thought and life of ages, may become explained 
away only too thoroughly. It is easy for my readers 
to acquire the science of the subject hereafter ; but 
where mythology is concerned, the poetry must come 
before the prose, and it will be a distinct loss for them 
if, under scientific teaching, they have never been 
familiar with the ancient stories as they were read by 


VI 


PREFACE. 


the makers of literature in the prse-critical times. 
Without the mythology of the Latin poets, modern 
literature in all languages becomes almost a dead 
letter ; hundreds of allusions become pointless, and 
thousands of substances fade into shadows. Of the 
three mythologies, the Greek, the Roman, and the 
Poetic or Conventional, I have selected the last, be- 
cause — among other reasons — 

It is as useful, and as needful to be known, as the 
others, on general grounds ; 

It is more useful, and more needful, than the others, 
as a portion of literature and as an intellectual influ- 
ence ; 

It is preferable as a means of exciting an interest in 
the subject ; 

It is not in the remotest degree an obstacle to more 
accurate knowledge, for which indeed it is an almost 
indispensable preparation. 

After these observations, there is no occasion to 
explain why I have made a point of employing Latin 
names and Latin spelling. 

Another point to which I should call attention is the 
attempt to cover (within limits) the whole ground, so 
that the reader may not be left in ignorance of any con- 
siderable tract of the realm of Jove. The stories are 
not detached ; they are brought, so far as I have been 
able to bring them, into a single saga, free from incon- 


PREFACE. 


vii 

sistencies and contradictions. Omissions owing to the 
necessarily prescribed limits will, I think, always find a 
place to fall into. Altogether, the lines of the volume 
diverge so entirely from those of Kingsley, or Haw- 
thorne, or any other story-teller known to me, that I 
may feel myself safe from the danger of fatal com- 
parisons. Of course this aim at a certain completeness 
has implied the difficult task of selection among variants 
of the same story or incident. Sometimes I have 
preferred the most interesting, sometimes the version 
most consistent with the general plan. But I have 
endeavored, as a rule, to adopt the most usual or 
familiar, as being most in accordance with my original 
intention. 

I need not, however, enumerate difficulties, which, if 
they are overcome, need no apology ; and, if they are 
not, deserve none. The greatest and most obvious, the 
strict observance of the “ Maxima reverentia,” will, and 
must always remain, crucial. In this, at least, I trust 
I have succeeded, in whatever else I may have failed. 
These stories were begun for one who was very dear 
to me, and Avho was their first and best critic ; and I 
shall be glad if what was begun, in hope, for him 
should be of use to others. E. F. 

Note. — Quantity is marked in proper names, wlien necessary, 
at their first occurrence. 





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CONTENTS 


Page 


SATURN ........... 

JUPITER AND JUNO : 

PART I. THE GODS AND THE GIANTS . . • . 

PART II. THE FIRST MAN ; OR, THE STORY OF PROMETHEUS 

AND PANDORA ...... 

PART III. THE GREAT FLOOD; OR, THE STORY OF DEUCALION 

APOLLO : 

PART I. THE STORIES OF LATONA AND NIOBE . 

PART II. THE FLAYED PIPER; OR, THE STORY OF MARSYAS 

PART III. TOO MUCH GOLD; OR, THE FIRST STORY OF MIDAS 

PART IV. THE critic; OR, THE SECOND STORY OF MIDAS. 

PART V. SOME FLOWER STORIES : 


I. 

THE 

LAUREL 

• 

• » 

• • 

II. 

THE 

HYACINTH . 

• 

• • 

• • 

III. 

THE 

SUN-FLOWER 

• 

• • 

• • 

IV. 

THE 

NARCISSUS . 

• 

• 

• • 

PART VI. 

PRESUMPTION ; OR, 

THE 

STORY OF 

PHAETHON 

DIANA, AND THE STORY OF ORION 

• 

. . 

. • 

MINERVA ; OR 

, WISDOM 

• 

. . 

. . 

VENUS : 


'■ 




PART I. 

THE 

GOD OF FIRE 

• 

. . 

• . 


1 

G 

11 

18 

24 

28 

38 

40 

44 

47 


49 

52 

57 

62 

69 

72 


PART II. LOVE AND THE SOllL ; OR, THE STORY OF CUPID 

AND PSYCHE ...... 

MERCURY AND IRIS ......... 

NEPTUNE . . : . 


80 

105 

109 


X 


CONTENTS 


Page 

HADES : 

PART I. THE KING AND QUEEN OF THE DEAD . . 115 

PART II. THE KINGDOM . 122 

PART III. ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE 129 

PART IV. THE MAN WHO NEVER DIED .... 134 

THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS ....... 137 

THE GOLDEN FLEECE ......... 162 

A LOST SECRET .......... 185 

THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS ........ 194 

THE HERO OF HEROES : 

PART I. THE ORACLE ....... 210 

PART II. HIS FIRST LABOR: THE LION . . ' . . 217 

PART III. HIS SECOND LABOR : THE HYDRA . . . 220 

PART IV. HIS THIRD LABOR : THE STAG .... 224 

PART V. HIS FOURTH LABOR: THE BOAR . . . 227 

PART VI. Ills FIFTH LABOR : THE AUGEAN STABLE . . 233 

PART VII. MORE LABORS ; AND THE CATTLE OF GERYON . 237 

PART VIII. HIS ELEVENTH LABOR: THE GARDEN OF THE 

HESPERIDES ...... 245 

PART IX. HIS TWELFTH LABOR: THE DESCENT INTO HADES 253 

PART X. THE CHOICE OF HERCULES .... 260 

PART XI. THE TUNIC OF NESSUS ..... 266 

THE APPLE OF DISCORD ........ 276 


SATUEK 


NCE upon a time, the Sky married the Earth. 



The Sky’s name was Coelus, and the Earth’s was 
Terra. They had a great many children : one of these, 
the eldest, was called Titan, and another was called 
Saturn. 

Terra, their mother Earth, was very good and kind ; 
but their father, Coelus, was very unkind and cruel. 
He hated his own children, and shut them all up 
under ground, so that he might get rid of them — all 
of them, that is to say, except Saturn, whom he allowed 
to have his freedom. Saturn grew up ; and he thought 
of nothing but how to set his brothers free. At last 
one day he went to his mother, and asked her what 
he could do. Terra had come to hate her husband for 
his cruelty : so she gave Saturn all the iron she had in 
her veins — (you know that iron comes from what are 
called the V eins of the Earth) — and he made a great 
scythe with it. With this scythe he wounded and 
punished his father so terribly that old Coelus was 
never good for anything again — in fact, we never hear 


2 


SATURN. 


of him any more, except when we turn his name into 
Coelum, which is the Latin for “the sky,” as you 
know. 

Saturn instantly let all his brothers out from their 
underground prison. They were very grateful to him ; 
and Titan, the eldest, said, “ You shall be king of us 
all, and of all the world, if you will only promise me 
one thing.” Saturn promised. “ It is this,” said Titan. 
“You know how our father treated us ; and how you 
treated him. Children are plagues, and I don’t want 
you to have anything to do with them. Therefore 
promise me to eat up all your children, if you ever 
have any, as soon as they are born. They’ll be too 
young to mind and you’ll be safe from them. I think 
so much of this, that if you don’t eat them up, every 
one. I’ll take the kingdom away from you. For I’m 
the eldest, and I might keep it if I pleased instead 
of giving it up to you.” 

Saturn had no children then, and he gave the 
promise. But sometime afterwards he married a god- 
dess named Rhea, who was very good and very 
beautiful. They, too, had a great many children. 
But, alas ! there was that terrible promise that poor 
Saturn had made to Titan. Saturn could not break hjs 
word, so he ate every child as soon as it was born. Of 
course Rhea was very unhappy and miserable : it 
was worse, thought she, than if he had only shut them 


SATURN. 


3 


underground. But there was the promise — and she 
did not know what to do. 

But she thought and thought, and at last she hit on 
a plan. When her next child was born, she hid it 
away, and when Saturn asked for it to eat it, she gave 
him a big stone instead of the baby. Saturn must have 
had good teeth, for he ate it up, and only thought that 
the hew baby’s bones were uncommonly hard. The 
trick answered so well that when the next child was 
born she did it again, — and again she did it a third 
time. She named the three children that she saved 
in this way, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. 

Jupiter, the eldest, was a very fine, strong child. He 
made such a noise with his crying that his mother 
Rhea was afraid Saturn would hear him. So she 
sent him away to the island of Crete, where he was 
brought up on goat’s milk ; and she ordered his nurses 
to make all the noise they could with drums, trumpets, 
and cymbals all day and all night long, so that nobody 
could hear him cry and so find out that he was alive. 

But unluckily her secret was found out by Titan. 
Titan thought Saturn had been breaking his word ; so 
he made war on him, and very nearly conquered him 
and took his kingdom from him. 

Jupiter, however, heard the noise of the battle 
through all the cymbals, trumpets, and drums. He 
was only a year old, but so big and strong that he 


4 


SATURN. 


rushed out of Crete, and fought a most desperate 
battle against his uncles, the Titans, to save his father, 
Saturn. The Titans were wonderful people. All were 
giants ; and one of them had a hundred arms. They 
threw mountains instead of stones. But Jupiter con- 
quered them at last, and set his father free. 

But somehow Saturn was very much afraid of his 
son. I think I should have been afraid of you if 
you had been such a wonderful baby. In some way 
or other — I don’t know how — he tried to get rid 
of J upiter, and made himself so unpleasant that 
Jupiter had to take his kingdom away from him, and 
make himself king. That is how Jupiter became king 
of all the gods and goddesses. 

Saturn, when he lost his kingdom, went to Italy, 
where a king named Janus received him very kindly. 
Saturn and Janus became such friends that Janus made 
him king with him ; and Saturn ruled so well that he 
made his people the happiest in all the world. Every- 
body was perfectly good and perfectly happy. Saturn’s 
reign on earth is called the Golden Age. His wife, 
Rhea, was with him, and was as good as he ; — so he 
had peace at last after all his troubles, which had no 
doubt taught him to be wise. 

The Greek name for Saturn means “Time”; and 
Saturn is called the god of Time, who swallows up 


SATURN. 


5 


all things and creatures. All creatures may be called 
“ the Children of Time.” And the kingdom of Time, 
we may say, must always come to an end. The whole 
story means a great deal more than this ; but this is 
enough to show you that it is not nonsense, and means 
something. One of the planets is called Saturn. 

In pictures Saturn is always made an old man, 
because Time is old ; and he carries his scythe, because 
Time mows everything away, just as a mower does the 
grass ; or like “ The Reaper whose name is Death.” 
Only Death, in the poem, is kinder than Saturn or 
Time. 


JUPITER AUD JUUO. 


PART I. — THE GODS AHD THE GIANTS. 


HEN Jupiter became god and king of the whole 



’ ' world, he made his two brothers, Neptune and 
Pluto, kings under him. He made Neptune god and 
king of the sea : Pluto he made god and king of 
Hades. . Hades was a world underground, in the 
middle of the earth, where men and women go and 
live when they die. 

The next thing that Jupiter did was to marry Juno. 
Their wedding was the grandest and most wonderful 
that, ever was seen. Invitations were sent out to all 
the gods and nymphs. The nymphs were a sort of 
fairies — some of them waited upon the goddesses ; 
some of them lived in rivers, brooks, and trees. All of 
them came to the wedding, except one nymph named 
Chelone. 

She refused to come : and, besides that, she laughed 
at the whole thing. When they told her’ that Jupiter 
was going to marry Juno, she laughed so loud that 


THE GODS AND THE GIANTS. 


7 


Jupiter himself could hear her. I don’t know why she 
thought it so ridiculous, but I can guess pretty well. 
I expect she knew Juno’s bad temper better than 
Jupiter did, and hoAv Jupiter was just the sort of 
husband to spoil any wife’s temper. But Jupiter was 
very fond of Juno just then, and he did not like to be 
laughed at on his wedding-day. So he had Chelone 
turned into a tortoise, so that she might never be able 
to laugh again. Nobody ever heard a tortoise laugh, 
nor ever will. 

Jupiter and eTuno set up their palace in the sky, just 
over the top of Mount Olympus, a high mountain in 
the north of Greece. And very soon, I am sorry to 
say, his quarrels with Juno began — so that, after all, 
poor Chelone had been right in not thinking much of 
the grand,^ wedding. He always kept her for his 
Queen ; but he cared for a great many Titanesses and 
nymphs much more than he did for her, and married 
more of them than anybody can reckon, one after 
another. This made Juno very angry, and they used 
to quarrel terribly. But something was going to 
happen which was almost as bad as quarreling, and 
which must have made Jupiter envy the peace and 
comfort of old Saturn, who had become only an earthly 
king. 

The Titans made another war. And this time they 
got the help of the Giants, who were more terrible 


8 


JUPITER AND JUNO. 


even than the Titans. They were immense monsters, 
some almost as tall as the tallest mountain, fearfully 
strong, and horribly ugly, with hair miles long, and 
rough beards down to their middle. One of them had 
fifty heads and a hundred hands. Another had ser- 
pents instead of legs. Others, called Cyclopes, had 
only one eye, which was in the middle of their fore- 
heads. But the most terrible of all was a giant 
named Typhon. He had a hundred heads, each like 
a dragon’s, and darted flames from his mouth and 
eyes. A great battle was fought between the gods 
and the giants. The giants tried to get into the sky 
by piling up the mountains one upon another. They 
used oak-trees for clubs, and threw hills for stones. 
They set whole forests on fire, and tossed them up 
like torches to set fire to the sky. And ,at last Ty- 
phon’s hundred fiery mouths set up a hundred different 
yells and roars all at once, so loud and horrible that 
Jupiter and all the gods ran away into Egypt and hid 
themselves there in the shapes of animals. Jupiter 
turned himself into a ram, and Juno became a cow. 

But, when their fright was over, the gods came 
back into their own shapes, and fought another battle, 
greater and more terrible than before. And this time 
the gods won. Some of the giants were crushed under 
mountains or drowned in the sea. Some were taken 
prisoners : and of these some were beaten to death and 


THE GODS AND THE GIANTS. 


9 


others were skinned alive. Atlas, who was the tallest, 
was ordered to spend all his days in holding up the 
sky on his shoulders, — how it was held up before, I 
do not know. Some of the Cyclopes were set to work 
in making thunderbolts for Jupiter. They became the 
blacksmiths of the gods, and Mount ^tna, which is a 
volcano', was one of their forges. 

After this, the gods lived in peace : though Jupiter 
and Juno never left off quarreling a good deal. 
Jupiter made most of his children gods and goddesses, 
and they all lived together over Mount Olympus, 
ruling the earth and the sky, and the air, the stin, and 
the stars. You will read the stories of all of them. 
They used to eat a delicious food called Ambrosia, 
and their wine was a wonderful drink called Nectar. 
Hebe, the goddess of Youth, mixed and poured out 
the Nectar, and Ganymede was Jupiter’s own page and 
cup-bearer. These gods and goddesses of the sky were 
a sort of large family, with J upiter and J uno for father 
and mother. Of course Neptune with his gods of the 
sea, and Pluto with his gods of Hades, were like differ- 
ent families, and lived in their own places. 

Whenever it thunders, that is the voice of Jupiter. 
One of the planets is named after him — it is a beau- 
tiful large white star. In pictures, he is a large, strong 
man, with a thick brown beard, looking like a king. 
He sits on a throne, with lightning in his hand, and an 


10 


JUPITER AND JUNO. 


eagle by his side. Juno is a large, beautiful woman, 
tall and grand, looking like a queen, with a proud face 
and splendid eyes. The peacock is her favorite bird, 
just as Jupiter’s is the eagle. 


PART II. — THE FIRST MAH; OR, THE STORY OF 
PROMETHEUS AHD PANDORA. 



,NE of the Titans left two sons, Prometheus and 


Epimetheus. Prometheus means Forethought, 
and Epimetheus means Afterthought. Now Prome- 
theus was not big and strong like the other Titans, 
but he was more clever and cunning than all of them 
put together. And he said to himself, “Well, the gods 
have shown themselves stronger than we. We can’t 
conquer them by fighting, that’s clear. But there are 
cleverer ways of winning than by fighting, as they 
shall see.” 

So Prometheus dug up a good-sized lump of clay, 
more than six feet long, and nearly four feet round. 
And now, said he to himself, “I only want just one* 
little spark of Heavenly Fire.” 

Now the Heavenly Fire is only to be found in the 
sky ; and Jupiter had ordered that no Titan was ever 
to enter the sky again. But Prometheus was much 
too clever to find any difficulty about that. The great 
goddess Minerva, who is the goddess of Wisdom, 
happened to be on a visit to the earth just then, so 
Prometheus called upon her and said : — 


12 


JUPITER AND JUNO. 


“ Great goddess, I am only a poor, beaten Titan, and 
I have never seen the sky. But my father and my 
father’s father used to live there in the good old times, 
and I should like, just once, to see the inside of the 
beautiful blue place above the clouds which 'was once 
their home. Please, great goddess, let me go in just 
once, and I’ll promise to do no harm.” 

Now Minerva did not like to break the rule. But 
she was very trusting and very good-natured, because 
she was very wise ; and besides, Prometheus looked 
such a poor little creature, so different from all the 
other Titans and Giants, that she said : — 

“ You certainly don’t look as if you could do us any 
harm, even if you tried. Very well — you shall have 
a look at the sky, and I’ll show you round.” 

So she told Prometheus to follow her up Mount 
Olympus ; but she did not notice a little twig that he 
carried in his hand : and if she had noticed it, she 
would not have thought it mattered. Wise people 
don’t notice all the little things that cunning people 
do. Then she opened the golden gate of the sky, and 
let him in. She was very kind, and showed him every- 
thing. He went over the palace of the gods, and saw 
Jupiter’s great ivory throne, and his eagle, and the 
brew-house where the nectar is made. He looked at 
the places behind the clouds, where they keep the rain 
and snow. Then they looked at all the stars ; and at 


THE FIRST MAN. 


13 


last they came to the Stables of the Sun. For you 
must know that the sun is a great fiery car, drawn by 
four white horses from the east to the west, and is put 
away in a stable during the night-time, where the four 
horses eat wheat made of gold. 

“ Now you have seen everything,” said Minerva ; 
“and you must go.” 

“ Thank you,” said Prometheus. And he went back 
to earth again. But just as he was leaving, he touched 
one of the wheels of the sun with his little twig, so 
that a spark came off upon the end. 

The spark was still there Avhen he got home. He 
touched his lump of clay with the spark of Heavenly 
Fire — and, lo and behold, the lump of clay became a 
living man ! 

“ There ! ” said Prometheus. “ There’s Something 
that will give the gods more trouble than anything 
that ever was made ! ” 

It was the First Man. 

Jupiter very soon found out what Prometheus had 
done, and was very vexed and annoyed. He forgave 
Minerva, who was his favorite daughter, but he said to 
the god of Fire : “ Make something that will trouble 

the man even more than the man will trouble me.” . 

So the god of Fire took another lump of clay, and 
a great deal of Heavenly Flame, and made the First 
W Oman. 


14 


JUPITER AND JUNO. 


All the gods admired her very much, for she had 
been made very nicely — better than the man. Jupiter 
said to her, “My child, go to Prometheus and give 
him my compliments, and tell him to marry you.” The 
gods and goddesses thought it a good idea, and all of 
them made her presents for her wedding. One gave 
her beauty, another wit, another fine clothes, and so 
on ; but Jupiter only gave her a little box, which was 
not to be opened till her wedding-day. 

Prometheus was sitting one day at his door, think- 
ing how clever he was, when he saw, coming down 
Olympus, the most beautiful creature he had ever 
seen. As soon as she came close — 

“Who are you?” he asked. “From where do you 
come ? ” 

“ My name is Pandora,” said she. “ And I am come 
from the skies to marry you.” 

“ With all my heart,” said Prometheus. “ You 
will be a very nice wife, I am sure. But — let 
me see — Pandora means ‘All Gifts,’ doesn’t it? 
What have you got to give me, to keep house 
upon?” 

“ The gods have given me everything ! ” said Pan- 
dora. “I bring you Beauty, Wit, Love, Wisdom, 
Health, Wealth, Virtue, Fine Clothes — in a word, 
everything that you can wish for.” 


THE FIRST MAN. 


15 


“And that little box — what have you in that?” 
asked he. 

“ Oh, that’s only a little box that Jupiter gave me — 
I don’t know what’s in that, for it is not to be opened 
till after we’re married. Perhaps it is diamonds.” 

“ Who gave it you ? ” asked he. 

“Jupiter,” said Pandora. 

“ Oho ! ” thought the cunning Prometheus. “ Secret 
boxes from Jupiter are not to my fancy. My dear,” 
he said to Pandora, “ on second thoughts, I don’t think 
I will marry you. Ilut as you’ve had so much trouble 
in coming. I’ll send you to my brother Epimetheus, 
and you shall marry him. He’ll do just as well.” 

So Pandora went on to Epimetheus, and he married 
her. But Prometheus had sent him a private message 
not to open the box that had been given by Jupiter. 
So it was put away, and everything went on very well 
for a long time. 

But, at last. Pandora happened to be alone in the 
house ; and she could not resist the temptation to just 
take one little peep into the box to see what was 
inside. Such a little box could not hold any harm : 
and it might be the most beautiful present of all. 
Anyhow, she could do no harm by lifting the lid ; she 
could easily shut it up again. She felt she was doing 
what would displease Epimetheus, and was rather 


16 


JUPITER AND JUNO. 


ashamed of her curiosity, but — well, she did open 
the box. And then — out there flew thousands and 
thousands of creatures, like a swarm of wasps and flies, 
buzzing and darting about with joy to be free. Out at 
the window, and over the world they flew. Alas ! 
they were all the evil things that are in the world to 
torment and hurt mankind. Those flies from Pan- 
dora’s box were War, Pain, Grief, Anger, Sickness, 
Sorrow, Poverty, Death, Sin. What could she do? 
She could not get them back into the box again; she 
could only scream and wring her hands. Epimetheus 
heard her cries, and did all he could : he shut down 
the lid, just in time to keep the very last of the swarm 
from flying away. By good luck, it was the only one 
worth keeping — a little creature called Hope, who 
still lives in the box to comfort us when the others are 
stinging us, and to make us say, “ There is good in 
everything — even in the box of Pandora.” 

But Jupiter, when he heard how Prometheus had 
refused to marry Pandora, and had tried to outwit him 
again, was very angry indeed. He sent down one of 
the gods, who took Prometheus and carried him to 
Blount Caucasus, and bound him to the highest and 
coldest peak with chains. And a vulture was sent to 
gnaw his heart forever. 

So cunning could not conquer the strength of the 
gods after all. 


THE FIRST MAN. 


17 


I have something to say about this story, which you 
may not quite understand now, but which you will, 
some day, when you read it again. Think how Man 
is made of dead common clay, but with one spark of 
Heavenly Fire straight from the sky. Think how 
Woman is made, with less clay, but with more of the 
Heavenly Fire. Think of that “ Afterthought,” which 
saved Hope when there was nothing else to be saved, 
and think of the Pain sent to gnaw the heart of Pro- 
metheus, who used all his cleverness to make himself 
great in wrong-doing. 

You will be glad to hear that, a long time after- 
wards, the greatest and best man in all Mythology 
came and killed the vulture, and set Prometheus free. 
You will read all about it in time. But I want you to 
know and remember the man’s name. It was Hercules. 


PART III. — THE GREAT FLOOD; OR, THE 
STORY OF DEUCALION. 


TZ)ROMETHEUS turned out to be quite right in 
saying that men would give more trouble to 
Jupiter than the Titans or the Giants, or anything that 
had ever been made. As time went on, men became 
more and more wicked every day. 

Now there lived in Thessaly, on the banks of a 
river, a man and his wife, named Deucalion and 
Pyrrha. I think they must have been good people, 
and not like all the other men and women in the 
world. One day, Deucalion noticed that the water in 
the river was rising very high. He did not think 
much of it at the time, but the next day it was higher, 
and the next higher still. At last the river burst its 
banks, and spread over the country, sweeping away 
houses and drowning many people. 

Deucalion and Pyrrha escaped out of their own 
house just in time, and went to the top of a mountain. 
But, to their terror, the waters still kept on spreading 
and rising, until all the plain of Thessaly looked like a 
sea, and the tops of the hills like islands. 


THE GREAT FLOOD. 


19 


“ The water will cover the hills soon,” said Deuca- 
lion, “ and then the mountains. What shall we do ? ” 

Pyrrha thought for a moment, and then said : — 

“ I have heard that there is a very wise man on the 
top of Mount Caucasus who knows everything. Let 
us go to him, and perhaps he will tell us what to do 
and what all this water means.” 

So they went down the other side, and went on and 
on till they reached the great Caucasian mountains, 
which are the highest in all Europe, and are always 
covered with snow. They climbed up to the highest 
peak, and there they saw a man, chained to the ice, 
with a vulture tearing and gnawing him. It was Pro- 
metheus, who had made the first man. 

Deucalion tried to drive the horrible bird away. 
But Prometheus said : — 

“ It is no use. You can do nothing for me. Not 
even the Great Flood will drive this bird away, or put 
me out of my pain.” 

“ Ah ! the Great Flood ! ” cried Deucalion and 
Pyrrha together. “We have left it behind us — are 
we safe up here ? ” 

“ You are safe nowhere,” said Prometheus. “ Soon 
the waters will break over the mountains round Thes- 
saly and spread over the whole world. They will rise 
and rise till not even this peak will he seen. Jupiter 
is sending this flood to sweep away from the face of 


20 


JUPITER AND JUNO. 


the earth the wickedness of man. Not one is to be 
saved. Even now, there is nobody left alive but you 
two.” 

Deucalion and Pyrrha looked : and, in the distance, 
they saw the waters coming on, and rising above the 
hills. 

“ But perhaps,” said Prometheus, “ Jupiter may not 
wish to punish you. I cannot tell. But I will tell 
you what to do — it may save you. Go down the 
mountain till you come to a wood, and cut down a 
tree.” Then he told them how to make a boat — for 
nobody knew anything about boats in those days. 
Then he bade them good bye, and they went down the 
hill sorrowfully, wishing they could help Prometheus, 
and doubting if they could help themselves. 

They came to the wood, and made the boat — just 
in time. The water rose ; but their boat rose with the 
water. At last even the highest peak of Caucasus was 
covered, and they could see nothing but the sky above 
them and the waters round. Then the clouds gathered 
and burst, and the sky and the sea became one great 
storm. 

For nine days and nights their little boat was tossed 
about by the winds and waves. But on the tenth day, 
as if by magic, the sky cleared, the water went down, 
and their boat was left high and dry on the top of 
a hill. 


THE GREAT FLOOD. 


21 


They knelt, and thanked Jupiter, and went down 
the hill hand in hand — the only man and the only 
woman in the whole world. They did not even know 
where they were. 

But presently they met, coming up the hill, a form 
like a woman, only grander and more beautiful. They 
were afraid. But at last they had courage to ask : — 

“ Who are you ? And where are we ? ” 

“ This hill is Mount Parnassus ; and I am Themis, 
the goddess of Justice,” said she. “I have finished 
my work upon the earth, and am on my way home to 
the sky. I know your story. Live, and be .good, and 
be warned by what has happened to all other men.” 

“ But what is the use of our living ? ” they asked, 
“ and what is the use of this great world to us two ? 
For we have no children to come after us when we 
die.” 

“ What you say is just,” said the goddess of Justice. 
“ Jupiter will be pleased enough to give this empty 
world to a wiser and better race of men. But he will 
be quite as content without them. In short, you may 
have companions, if you want them, and if you will 
teach them to be better and wiser than the old ones. 
Only you must make them for yourselves.” 

“ But how can we make men ? ” asked they. 

“ I will tell you. Throw your grandmother’s bones 
behind you without looking round.” 


22 


JUPITER AND JUNO. 


“ Our grandmother’s bones ? But how are we to 
find them after this flood, or to know which are hers ? ” 
“The gods,” said Themis, “tell people what to do, 
but not how it is to be done.” And she vanished into 
the air. 

I think Themis was right. All of us are taught 
what we ought to do ; but we are usually left to ask 
ourselves whether any particular thing is right or wrong. 

Deucalion and Pyrrha asked one another ; but 
neither knew what to say. The whole world, after 
the Great Flood, was full of bones everywhere. Which 
were their grandmother’s, and where ? They wandered 
about over half the world trying to find them, but all 
in vain, till they thought they would have to give it 
up in despair. 

At last, however, Pyrrha said to Deucalion : — 

“ I have a thought. W e are all called the children 
of Jupiter, you know, because he is called the father 
of gods and men. And Jupiter and all the gods are 
the children of Ccelus and Terra. Now, if we are the 
children of Jupiter, and Jupiter is the child of Terra, 
then Terra must be our grandmother. And Terra is 
the Earth ; so our grandmother is the Earth, you see.” 
“ But,” asked Deucalion, “ what about the bones ? ” 
“ What are the bones of the Earth but the stones ? ” 
said Pyrrha. “ The stones must be our Grandmother’s 
Bones.” 


THE GREAT FLOOD. 


23 


“ I don’t think you’re right,” said Deucalion. “ It’s 
much too easy a thing — only to throw a few stones. 
But there’s no harm in trying.” 

So they gathered two heaps of stones, one for him 
and one for her, and threw the stones behind them, 
over their shoulders, without turning round — just as 
Themis had told them. 

When they had thrown away all their stones, they 
looked to see if anything had happened. And lo ! 
every stone thrown by Pyrrha had become a woman, 
and every stone thrown by Deucalion had become a 
man. 

So they kept on throwing stones till the world was 
full of men and women again. And Deucalion and 
Pyrrha became their king and queen. 


r 


APOLLO. 


PART I. — THE STORIES OF LATOHA AND 
NIOBE. 


TU PITER once fell in love with a beautiful Titaness 
^ named Latona. This made Juno terribly angry : 
so she sent a huge and horrible snake, called Python, 
to hunt Latona all over the world. And she went to 
Terra, and made her swear not to give Latona a resting- 
place or a hiding-place anywhere. 

So poor Latona was hunted and driven about by 
Python night and day. She also went to our Grand- 
mother Earth, and begged for a corner to rest in or a 
cave to hide in. But old Terra said, “No. I have 
sworn to Juno that you shall have no rest in me.” 

At last, in her despair, she went to Neptune, and 
prayed him to hide her in his waters, since Earth had 
refused her. Neptune said, “ I wish I could, with all 
my heart ; but what place is there, in the sea or on the 
land, where you can hide from the Queen of the Sky? 


THE STORIES OF LATONA AND NIOBE. 


25 


But wait — there’s one thing that nobody knows of 
but me. There is an island under the sea ; and this 
island is always moving and wandering about, so that 
nobody can see it, or tell where it may chance to be, 
for it is never in the same place two minutes together. 
It isn’t sea, because its land ; but it doesn’t belong to 
Terra, because it’s under the sea, and has no bottom. 
I’ll tell you what I’ll do for you. I’ll fix it where 
nobody can find it, and you’ll be safe there, because 
it’s neither earth nor sea.” 

So Neptune anchored the floating island in a part of 
the ^gean Sea. The island is called Delos ; and it is 
there still, just where it was fixed by Neptune for 
Latona. 

Latona went and lived there, safe from Juno and 
Python. After a time she had two children, a son 
and a daughter. The son was named Apollo, and the 
daughter Diana. 

Both were beautiful, but Apollo was the most beau- 
tiful boy ever born. He was a wonderful child in 
every way. The very instant he was born he made 
a bow and arrow, and went across the sea, and found 
Python, and killed him. When he was four years old, 
he built one of the wonders of the world — a great 
altar to the gods, made of the horns of the goats that 
his sister Diana used to hunt and shoot in the moun- 
tains. With two such children to help her, Latona no 


26 


APOLLO. 


longer felt afraid of Juno. So she left Delos, and 
came, with her two children, into a country of Asia 
Minor, called Lydia. 

Now there was a princess in Thebes named Niobe, 
who had fourteen beautiful children — seven daughters 
and seven sons. She was very fond and proud of 
them, and she did not like to hear people talking 
about Latona’s wonderful children. “ What signifies 
a miserable couple of children, when I have fourteen?” 
she used to say. “Z don’t think much of Latona”; 
and, in her jealousy, she never lost a chance of insult- 
ing the mother of Apollo and Diana. 

Of course these insults came to Latona’s ears. Apollo 
and Diana heard of them too ; and they resolved to 
punish the proud princess who insulted and scorned 
their mother. I scarcely like to tell you of how they 
punished Niobe, for T cannot think of anything more 
cruel. 

Each of them took a bow and seven arrows. Apollo 
shot with his arrows all the seven sons of Niobe. Diana 
shot six of Niobe’s seven daughters, leaving only one 
alive. “There!” said they; “what signifies a miser- 
able one child, when our mother has two?” 

When poor Niobe saw her children killed before her 
she wept bitterly, and she could not stop her tears. 
They flowed on and on, until she cried herself into stone. 


THE STORIES OF LATONA AND NIOBE. 27 

As for Apollo, he kept on growing handsomer and 
stronger until he became a god — the most glorious 
of all the gods in the sky. Jupiter made him the god 
of the Sun, and made his sister, Diana, goddess of the 
Moon. He was also the god of all beautiful and useful 
things : of music, painting, poetry, medicine. Several 
names were given to him. One of his names is “ Phoe- 
bus,” which means bright and splendid like the sun. 
“Apollo” means “the Destroyer”: people must guess 
for themselves why he was called “the Destroyer.” 

In pictures and statues he is always made graceful, 
beautiful, and young. He has no hair on his face, but 
wears long waving hair. Sometimes he carries a lyre 
— a sort of small harp — and sometimes a bow. V ery 
often he wears a wreath laurel. You must take a 
great deal of notice of Apollo, or Phoebus, because he 
is the most famous of all the gods next to Jupiter. It 
will help you to know him if you think of him as 
always beautiful, wise, and bright, but rather cruel and 
hard. 


PART II.— THE PLAYED PIPER; OR, 
THE STORY OP MARSYAS. 


HE men who filled the earth after the Great Flood 



were a great deal cleverer than people are now. 
A king’s son named Cadmus invented the alphabet — 
which is, perhaps, the most wonderful thing in the 
world. And when he wanted to build the city of 
Thebes, he got a great musician, named Amphion, to 
play to the stones and trees, so that they, by dancing 
to his tunes, built themselves into walls and houses 
without the help of any masons or carpenters. At last 
men became so wonderfully clever in everything, that 
a physician named JEsculapius, who was a son of Apollo, 
found out how to bring back dead people to life again. 

But when Jupiter heard that Aesculapius had really 
made a dead man live, he was angry, and rather fright- 
ened too. For he thought, “If men know how to live 
forever, they will become as great and as wise as the 
gods, and who knows what will happen then?” So 
he ordered the Cyclopes to make him a thunderbolt, 
and he threw it down from heaven upon Aesculapius 
and killed him. No other man knew the secret of 
Asculapius, and it died with him. 


THE FLAYED PIPER. 


29 


But Apollo was very fond and proud of his son, and 
was in a great rage with J upiter for having killed him. 
He could not punish Jupiter, but he took his bow and 
arrows and shot all the Cyclopes who had made the 
thunderbolt. 

Then it was Jupiter’s turn to be angry with Apollo 
for killing his servants, who had only done what they 
were told to do. He sentenced him to be banished 
from the sky for nine years. 

So Apollo left the sky and came down to the earth, 
bringing with him nothing but his lyre. You know 
that Mount Olympus, where the gods live, is in Thes- 
saly, so that Thessaly was the country in which Apollo 
found himself when he came down from the sky. He 
did not know what to do with himself for the nine 
years, so he went to a king of Thessaly named Admetus, 
who received him very kindly, and made him his shep- 
herd. I don’t think Admetus could have known who 
Apollo was, or he would hardly have set the great god 
of the Sun to look after his sheep for him. 

So Apollo spent his time pleasantly enough in watch- 
ing the king’s sheep and in playing on his lyre. 

Now there was a very clever hut very conceited 
musician named Marsyas, who had invented the flute, 
and who played on it better than anybody in the world. 
One day Marsyas happened to be passing through 
Thessaly, when he saw a shepherd sitting by a brook 


30 


APOLLO. 


watching his sheep, and playing to them very beauti- 
fully on a lyre. He went up to the shepherd, and 
said : — 

“You play very nicely, my man. But nobody can 
do much with those harps and fiddles and trumpery 
stringed things. You should learn the flute ; then 
you’d know what music means ! ” 

“Indeed?” said Apollo. “I’m sorry, for your sake, 
that your ears are so hard to please. As for me, 1 
don’t care for whistles and squeaking machines.” 

“ Ah ! ” said Marsyas, “ that’s because you never 
heard Me ! ” 

“And you dare to tell me,” said Apollo, “that you 
put a wretched squeaking flute before the lyre, which 
makes music for the gods in the sky?” 

“And you dare to say,” said Marsyas, “that a miser- 
able twanging, tinkling lyre is better than a flute? 
What an ignorant blockhead you must be ! ” 

At last their wrangling about their instruments grew 
to quarreling ; and then Apollo said : — 

“We shall never settle the question in this way. We 
will go to the next village and give a concert. You 
shall play your flute and I will play my lyre, and tlie 
people shall say which is the best — yours or mine.” 

“With all my heart,” said Marsyas. “I know what 
they will say. But we must have a wager on it. What 
shall it be?” 


THE FLAYED PIPER. 


31 


“We will bet our skins,” said Apollo. “If I lose, 
you shall skin me; and if you lose, I will skin you.” 

“Agreed,” said Marsyas. 

So they went to the next village, and called the 
• people together to judge between the flute and the lyre. 

Marsyas played first. He played a little simple tune 
on his flute so beautifully that everybody was charmed. 
But Apollo then played the same tune on his lyre, even 
more beautifully still. 

Then Marsyas took his flute again and played all sorts 
of difficult things — flourishes, runs, shakes, everything 
you can think of — in the most amazing manner, till 
the people thought they had never heard anything so 
wonderful. And indeed never had such flute-playing 
been heard. 

But Apollo, instead of following him in the same 
fashion, only played another simple tune — but this 
time he sang while he played. 

You can imagine how gloriously the god of Music 
sang ! You can fancy how much chance Marsyas had 
of winning when Apollo’s voice was carrying the hearts 
of the people away. . . . “There,” said Apollo, when 
he had finished, “ beat that if you can — and give me 
your skin ! ” 

“It is not fair,” said Marsyas. “This is not a sing- 
ing match : the question is. Which is the best instrument 
■ — the flute or the lyre? ” 


32 


APOLLO. 


‘‘ It is fair,” said Apollo. “ If you can sing while 
you are playing the flute, then I have nothing to say. 
But you can’t sing, you see, because you have to use 
your lips and your breath in blowing into those holes. 
Is not that instrument best which makes you sing best 
— Yes or No? And if I mustn’t use my breath, you 
mustn’t use yours.” 

You must judge for yourself which was right. But 
the people decided for Apollo. And so Apollo, having 
won the wager, took Marsyas and skinned him, and 
hung his body on a tree. 


PART III. — TOO MUCH OOUD ; OR, THE FIRST 
STORY OF MIDAS. 



HERE were other beings besides men upon the 


earth in those days. You ought to know some- 
thing about them now, because Apollo, while he was 
banished from the sky, had a great deal to do with 
them. These beings were called Nymphs, Fauns, and 


Satyrs. 


The Nymphs were a kind of beautiful she-fairies. 

Dryads were nymphs who lived in forests. 

Hamadryads were nymphs who lived in trees. Every 
tree has a Hamadryad, who lives in it, who is born 
when it first grows, and who dies when it dies. So 
that a Hamadryad is killed whenever a tree is cut 
down. 

Naiads were nymphs belonging to brooks and rivers. 
Every stream has its Naiad. 

Oreads were nymphs who lived upon hills and 
mountains. They used to attend upon Apollo’s sister 
Diana, who went hunting every moonlight night among 
the hills. 


34 


APOLLO. 


The Fauns and Satyrs were he-creatures, like men, 
with the hind-legs of goats, short horns on their fore- 
heads, and long pointed ears. But there was a differ- 
ence between the Fauns and Satyrs. The Fauns were 
handsome, gentle, innocent, and rather foolish. The 
Satyrs were hideous, clumsy, hairy monsters, with flat 
faces, little eyes, and huge mouths, great gluttons, 
often drunk, and sometimes mischievous : most of 
them were dull and stupid, hut many of them had 
plenty of sense and knowledge. The Fauns and 
Satyrs lived among the woods and hills, like the 
Dryads and Oreads. 

The king of all these Nymphs, Fauns, and Satyrs 
was a god named Pan, who was himself a very hid- 
eous satyr. He had nothing to do with the gods of 
Olympus, but lived on the earth, chiefly in a part of 
Greece called Arcadia. “Pan” is the Greek for “all” 
— you may remember the same word in the name of 
“Pa?^-dora.” He was called “ Pan ” because he was 
the god of “ all ” nature — all the hills and mountains, 
all the woods and forests, all the fields, rivers, and 
streams. 

The ugliest, fattest, greediest, tipsiest, cleverest, 
and wisest of all the satyrs was named Silenus. He 
was hardly ever sober, but he knew so much and 
understood the world so well, that one of the gods, 
named Bacchus, made Silenus his chief adviser and 


TOO MUCH GOLD. 


35 


counselor. You will hear more of Bacchus later on. 
I will only tell you now that he was not one of the 
great gods of Olympus, but lived on the earth, like 
Pan. Only, while Pan was the god of all wild, savage 
nature, Bacchus was the god of nature as men make 
it : Bacchus taught men to turn Pan’s wild woods 
into corn-fields and gardens, to put bees into hives, 
and to make wine. I think Silenus had an especially 
great deal to do with the wine-making. You will 
often hear Bacchus called the god of wine, and so he 
was ; but he was a great deal more and better. 

This has been a long beginning to my story ; but if 
you will get it well into your head, you will find it 
easy to remember, and will make a great step in under- 
standing mythology. 

Now once upon a time Silenus got very drunk 
indeed — more drunk even than usual. * He was travel- 
ing about with Bacchus, but had strayed away by 
himself, and, when night came on, could not find his 
way back into the road. He could do nothing but 
blunder and stagger about in the middle of the thick, 
dark forest, stumbling and sprawling over the roots of 
the trees, and knocking his head against the branches. 
At last he gave a tremendous tumble into a bush, and 
lay there, too drunk and too fat to pick himself up 
again. So he went to sleep and snored terribly. 


36 


APOLLO. 


Presently some huntsmen passed by, and thought 
they heard some wild beast roaring. You may guess 
their surprise when they found this hideous old satyr 
helplessly drunk and unable to move. But they did 
not catch a satyr every day : so they took him by the 
head and shoulders, and brought him as a prize to the 
king. 

This king was King Midas of Phrygia, which is a 
country in Asia Minor. As soon as King Midas saw 
the satyr, he guessed him to be Silenus, the friend of 
Bacchus : so he did everything to make him com- 
fortable till his drunkenness should pass away. It 
passed away at last ; and then King Midas sent all 
round about to find where Bacchus was, so that Silenus 
might go hack to him. While the search was being 
made, the king and the satyr became great friends, 
and Silenus, keeping fairly sober, gave Midas a great 
deal of good advice, and taught him science and 
philosophy. 

At last Bacchus was found ; and Midas himself 
brought Silenus hack to him. Bacchus was exceed- 
ingly glad to see Silenus again, for he was beginning 
to be afraid that he had lost him forever. “ Ask any 
gift you please,” he said to King Midas, “ and it shall 
be yours.” 

“ Grant me,” said Midas, that everything I touch 
shall turn into gold.” 


TOO MUCH GOLD. 


37 


Bacchus looked vexed and disappointed. But he 
was bound by his promise, and said : — 

It is a fool’s wish. But so be it. Everything 
you touch shall turn to gold.” 

Midas thanked Bacchus, said good-bye to Silenus and 
went home. How rich he was going to be — the 
richest king in the whole world! He opened his 
palace door, and lo I the door became pure, solid gold. 
He went from room to room, touching all the furni- 
ture, till everything, bedsteads, tables, chairs, all be- 
came gold. He got a ladder (which turned into gold 
in his hands) and touched every brick and stone in his 
palace, till his whole palace was gold. His horses had 
golden saddles and golden bridles. His cooks boiled 
water in golden kettles : his servants swept away 
golden dust with golden brooms. 

When he sat down to dinner, his plate turned to 
gold. He had become the richest man in the world, 
thought he with joy and pride, as he helped himself 
from the golden dish before him. But suddenly his 
teeth jarred against something hard — harder than 
bone. Had the cook put a flint into the dish? Alas! 
it was nothing of the kind. His very food, as soon as 
it touched his lips, turned to solid gold ! 

His heart sank within him, while the meat before 
him mocked his hunger. Was the richest man in the 


88 


APOLLO. 


world to starve? A horrible fear came upon him. 
He poured out wine into a golden cup, and tried to 
drink, and the wine turned into gold ! He sat in 
despair. 

What was he to do? What was the use of all 
this gold if he could not buy with it a crust of bread 
or a draught of water? The poorest ploughman was 
now a richer man than the king. He could only 
wander about his golden palace till his hunger became 
starvation, and his thirst a fever. At last, in his 
despair, he set out and followed after Bacchus again, 
to implore the god to take back the gift of gold. 

At last, when nearly starved to death, he found him. 
“What!” said Bacchus, “are you not content yet? 
Do you want more gold still ? ” 

“Gold!” cried Midas, “I hate the horrible word! 
I am starving. Make me the poorest man in the 
whole world. Silenus taught me much; but I have 
learned for myself that a mountain of gold is not the 
worth of a single drop of dew.” ^ 

“ I will take back my gift, then,” said Bacchus. 
“ But I will not give you another instead of it, because 
all the gods of Olympus could not give you anything 
better than this lesson. You may wash away your folly 
in the first river you come to. Good-bye — and only 
don’t think that gold is not a good thing because too 
much of it is a bad one.” 


TOO MUCH GOLD. 


39 


Midas rail to the banks of the river Pactolus, which 
ran hard by. He threw off his golden clothes, and 
hurried barefoot over the sands of the river — and the 
sand, wherever his naked feet touched it, turned to 
gold. He plunged into the water, and swam through 
to the other side. The Curse of the Golden Touch 
left him, and he ate and drank, and never hungered 
after gold again. He had learned that the best tiling 
one can do with too much gold is to give it away as 
fast as one can. 

The sand of the river Pactolus is said to have gold 
in it to this day. 


% 


PART IV. — THE CRITIC; OR, THE SECOND 
STORY OF MIDAS. 



|NCE upon a time the god Pan fell in love with a 


Naiad, or water-nymph, named Syrinx. She was 
very beautiful, as all the nymphs were ; but Pan, as 
you know, was very ugly — so ugly that she hated 
him, and was afraid of him, and would have nothing 
to do with him. At last, to escape from him, she 
turned herself into a reed. 

But even then Pan did not lose his love for her. 
He gathered the reed, and made it into a musical in- 
strument, which he called a Syrinx. We call it a Pan- 
pipe, after the name of its inventor, and because upon 
this pipe Pan turned into music all his sorrow for the 
loss of Syrinx, making her sing of the love to which 
she would not listen while she was alive. 

I suppose that King Midas still kept up his friend- 
ship for Silenus and the satyrs, for one day he was 
by when Pan was playing on his pipe of reeds, and 
he was so delighted with the music that he cried out. 
How beautiful ! Apollo himself is not so great a 
musician as Pan I ” 


THE CRITIC. 


41 


You remember the story of Marsyas, and how angry 
Apollo was when anybody’s music was put before his 
own ? I suppose that some ill-natured satyr must have 
told him wliat King Midas had said about him and 
Pan. ^Vnyway, he Avas very' angry indeed. And 
Midas, the next time he looked at himself in his 
mirror, saAv that his ears had been changed into tliose 
of an Ass. 

This Avas to shoAV him what sort of ears those people 
must have Avho like the common music of earth better 
than tlie* music which the gods send doAvn to us from 
the sk}^. But, as you may suppose, it made Midas very 
miserable and ashamed. “All my people Avill think 
their king an Ass,” he thought to himself, “ and that 
Avould never do.” 

So he made a very large cap to cover his ears, and 
never took it off, so that nobody might see Avhat had 
happened to him. But one of his servants, who Avas 
A^ery prying and curious, Avondered Avhy the king should 
ahvays Avear that large cap, and Avhat it Avas that he 
could Avant to hide. He Avatched and Avatched for a 
loiip- time in vain. But at last he hid himself in the 
king’s bedroom ; and Avhen Midas undressed to go to 
bed, he saAV to his amazement that his master had Ass’s 
ears. 

He Avas very frightened too, as well as amazed. He 
could not bear to keep such a curious and surpiising 


42 


APOLLO. 


secret about the king ail to himself, for he was a 
great gossip, like most people who pry into other 
people’s affairs. But he thought to himself, ‘‘If I 
tell about the king’s ears he will most certainly cut 
off my own ! But 1 must tell somebody. Whom 
shall J tell?” 

So, when he could bear the secret no longer, he dug 
a hole into the ground, and whispered into it, “ King 
Midas has the Ears of an Ass ! ” Then, having thus 
eased his mind, he filled up the hole again, so that the 
secret might be buried in the earth forever. 

But all the same, before a month had passed, the 
secret about the king’s ears was known to all the land. 
How could that be ? The king still woi'e his cap, and 
the servant had never dared to speak about it to man, 
woman, or child. You will never be able to guess how 
the secret got abroad without being told. 

It was in this way. Some reeds grew up out of the 
place where the servant had made the hole, and of 
course the reeds had heard what had been whispered 
into the ground Avhere their roots were. And they 
were no more able to keep such a Avonderful secret to 
themselves than the servant had been. Whenever the 
Avind bleAV through them they rustled, and their rustle 
said, “ King Midas has the Ears of an Ass ! ” The 
Avind heard the Avords of the reeds, and carried the 


THE CRITIC. 


43 


news through all the laud, wherever it blew, King 
Midas has the Ears of an Ass ! ” And all the people 
heard the voice of the Avind, and said to one another, 
‘‘What a wonderful thing — King Midas has the ears 
of an Ass ! ” 


PART V. — SOME FLOWER STORIES. 


I. — THE LAUREL. 

/ \NE day, Apollo, while following his flock of slieep, 
^ met a little hoy playing with a how and arrows. 

“ That isn’t much of a l)ow yon've got/ there,” said 
Apollo. 

‘‘Isn’t it?” said the hoy. “Perhaps not; hut all 
the same, I don’t belmve you’ve got a ])etter, thougli 
you’re so big and I’m so small.” 

Now you know that Apollo never could hear to l)e 
told that anybody could have anything, or do anything, 
better than he. You remember how he treated Mar- 
syas and Midas for saying the same kind of thing. So 
he took his own l)ow from his shoulder, and showed 
it to the boy, and said, “As you think you know so 
much about bows and arrows, look at that ; perhaps 
you’ll say that the bow which killed the great serpent 
Python isn’t stronger than your trumpery little toy.” 

The boy took Apollo’s boAV and tried to bend it ; but 
it was much too strong for him. “ But never mind,” 
said he. “ My little bow and arrows are better than 
your big ones, all the same.” 


SOME ELOVVEK STOKIES. 


45 


Apollo was half angry and half amused. “ You little 
blockhead ! how do you make out that? ” asked he. 

‘^Because,” said the boy, ‘‘your bow can kill every- 
body else — hut mine can conquer you. Y ou shall 
see.” * ■ 

And so saying he let fly one of his arrows right into 
Apollo’s heart. The arrow was so little that Apollo 
felt nothing more than the prick of a pin : he only 
laughed at the boy’s nonsense, and went on his way 
as if nothing had happened. 

But Apollo would not have thought so little of the 
matter if he had known that his heart had been pricked 
by a magic arrow. The boy’s name was Cupid : and 
you will read a good deal about him both in this book 
and in others. Oddly enough, though the boy was one 
of the gods of Olympus, Apollo had never seen him 
before, and knew nothing about him. Perhaps Cupid 
had not been born when Apollo was banished from the 
sky. However this may be, there is no doubt about 
what Cupid’s arrows could do. If he shot into the 
hearts of two people at the same time with two of his 
golden arrows, they loved each other, and were happy. 
But if he shot only one heart, as he did Apollo’s, that 
person was made to love somebody who did not love 
him in return, and perhaps hated him : so he became 
very miserable. 


APOLLO. 


46 ^ 

So it litippeiied to Apollo. He became very fond of 
a nymptli named Daphne. But though he was so great 
and glorious a god, and she only a Naiad, she was only 
afraid of him and Avould have nothing to do with him 
— because Cu})id, out of mischief, shot her heart witli 
one of his leaden arrows, which prevented love. Apollo 
prayed her to like him ; but she could not, and when 
she saw him coming used to hide away at the bottom 
of her river. 

But one day she was rambling in a wood a long way 
from her home. And, to her alarm, she suddenly saw 
Ajiollo coming towards lier. She took to her heels 
and ran. She ran very fast indeed ; but her liver was 
far away, and Apollo kep/t gaining upon her — for no- 
body on the eartli or in tlie sky could run so fast as 
he. At last she* was so tired and so frightened that 
she could run no longer, and was oldiged to stand 
still. 

Rather tliaii let A})ollo touch me,” she said, “ 1 
would be a Hamadryad, and never be able to run 
again ! ” 

She wished it so liard, that suddenly she felt her 
feet take root in the earth. Then her arms turned to 
branches, and her fingers to twigs, and her hair to 
leaves. And when Apollo readied tlie spot, he found 
nothing but a laurel bush growing where Daphne had 
been. 


SOME FLO AVER STORIES. 


47 


That is Avhy “ Daphne ” is the Greek for T^iyirel.” 
And forever after Apollo loved the bush into Avhich 
Daphne had been turned. You may know Apollo in 
pictures by his laurel Avreath as Avell as by liis lyre and 

bOAV. 

It is a very ancient saying that “Love conquers all 
things.” And that is exactly Avhat Cupid meant by 
saying that his toy-bow Avas stronger CA^en than the 
boAV Avhich had killed Python, and could conquer Avith 
ease even the god of tlie Sun. 


1 r, — TH E HA'A(TNTH . 

You remember that Apollo and Diana Avere born in 
the island of Delos. 44ie part of Delos Avhere they 
Avere born Avas a mountain called Cynthus ; and for 
that reason Apollo Avas often calfed Cynthius, and 
Diana, Cynthia. Bear this in mind, in order to folloAV 
this story. 

While Apollo Avas on eartli, Amydas, the King of 
Sparta, engaged lum to be the teacher of his son. 
This boy, named llyacinthus, Avas so handsome and so 
amiable that Apollo became exceedingly fond of him ; 
indeed, he could not bear to be aAvay from his pupil’s 
compan3L 

But the Avest Avind, Avhose name is Zephyr us, Avas 
also very fond of the boy, Avhose chief friend he had 


48 


AFOLLO. 


been before Apollo came. He was afraid that the son 
of Amyclas liked Apollo best ; and this thought filled 
him with jealousy. One day, as he was blowing about 
the king’s garden, he saw Apollo and the boy playing 
at quoits together. “ Quoits ” are lieavy rings made 
of iron : each player takes one, and throws it with all 
his strength at a peg fixed in the ground, and the 
one who throws his quoit nearest to the peg wins the 
game. Zephyrus was so angry and jealous to see the 
two friends amusing themselves Avhile he was blowing 
about all alone, that he determined to be revenged 
upon both of them. 

First of all the boy threw, his quoit, and came very 
near to the peg indeed — so near that even Apollo, who 
could do everything better than anybody, thought he 
should find it very hard to beat him. The peg was 
a great way off, so Apollo took up the heaviest quoit, 
aimed perfectly straight, and sent it flying like a thun- 
derbolt through the air. But Zephyrus, wlio was wait- 
ing, gave a great blast, and blew Apollo’s quoit as it 
was flying, so that it struck the boy, who fell to the 
ground. 

It was a cruel thing altogether. Apollo thought 
that he himself had struck his friend by aiming 
badl}^ : the boy thought the same, for neither could 
tell it was Zephyrus, — - nobody has ever seen the 
wind. 


SOME FLOWEK STORIES. 


49 


So perished Hyaciiithus : nor could Apollo do any- 
thing to show his love and grief for his friend except 
change him into a flower, which is called Hyacinth to 
this day. Tt is said that, if you look, you will find 
•• Hya ” Avritten in Greek letters upon every petal of 
the flower. Some jieople, hoAveyer, say that it is not 
“Hya” at all, hut “Aiai,” Avhich means “alas.” 1 
don’t knoAA" Avhich is true ; hut if you Avill some day 
look at the petal of a hyacinth through a microscope 
(the stronger the better, I should say), you Avill find 
out for yourself and be able to tell me. 

Apollo seems to have been rather fond of turning 
his friends into trees and floAvers. There Avas another 
friend of his named Cyp3,rissus, A\dio once, by accident, 
killed one of Apollo’s favorite stags, and Avas so sorry 
for what he had done, and pined away so miserably, 
that the god, to put him out of his misery, changed 
him into a cypress-tree. “ Cypress ” comes from Cypit- 
rissus, as you aauII easily see. And Ave still plant the 
cypress in churchyards, because it is the tree of teai*s 
and mourning that cannot be cured. 

III. — THE SUN-FLOAVER. 

There Avas a nymph named Clytle, who Avas so 
beautiful that Apollo fell in love Avith her. She Avas 
very proud and glad of being loved by the god of the 


50 


APOLLO. 


Sun, and loved him a great deal more than he loved 
her. But she believed that his love was as great as 
her own : and so she lived happily for a long time. 

But one day, Apollo happened to see a king’s daugh- 
ter, whose name was Leucothoe. He thought she was 
the most beautiful creature he had ever seen : so he 
fell in love with her, and forgot Clytie as much as if 
there was nobody but Leucothoe in the world. Clytie, 
however, knew nothing of all this, and only wondered 
why Apollo never came to see her any more. 

Now the king, whose name Avas Orchamus, kept his 
daughter very strictly • and did not wish her to have 
anything to do Avith Apollo I suppose he Avas afraid 
of Apollo’s loving her for a time, and then leaving her 
to be miserable and unhappy, as happened to many 
nymphs and princesses in those days besides Clytie. So 
Avhen King Orchamus found that Apollo Avas making 
love to T.(eucothoe, he shut her up in liis palace, and 
Avould not alloAV her to go out or anybody else to 
go in. 

But Apollo Avas much too cleA^er to be beaten in 
that Avay. He disguised himself as Leucothoe’s own 
mother, and so came to see her Avhenever he pleased, 
Avithout an3^body being anything the Aviser. And so 
eveiything Avent on just as he Avished, if it had not been 
for Clytie, Avhom he had treated just as King Orchamus 
Avas afraid he would treat Leucothoe. 


SOME FLO^YEE STORIES. 


51 


Clytie wondered wliy polio never came to see her 
till she could bear it no longei’ ; and she watched him, 
to find out Avhat Avas the reason of it all. She watched 
till at last she saw somebody avIio looked like a queen 
go into the palace of King Orchamus. But she knew 
Apollo much too Avell to be taken in l)y any disguise. 
She secretly folloAved him into the palace, and found 
him making love to Leiicothoe. 

In her misery and jealousy, she Avent straiglit to 
King Orchamus, and told liim A\diat she had seen. 
Perhaps she hoped tliat the king Avould send his 
daughter aAvay altogetlier, so that A})ollo would then 
come back to her. Slie could not possibly foresee 
Avhat Avould really happen. King Orchamus Avas so 
enraged with his daughter for receiving ^Vpollo’s visits 
against his commands that he ordered Leucothoe to be 
buried alive. Of course he could not punish Apollo : 
because Apollo Avas a god, Avhile he Avas only a king. 

Perhaps you Avill think that Apollo might have 
managed to save Leucothoe from such a terrible death 
as her fatlier had oixlered for her. .Vs lie did not, I 
suppose tliat King Orchamus had her buried before 
anybody could tell the ucaa^s — at any rate she Avas 
dead Avhen Apollo arrived at her grave. All he could 
do for her Avas to sIioav his love and his sorrow by 
turning her into a ti‘ee from Avliich people take a 
sweet-smelling gum called myrrh. 


52 


APOLLO. 


As to Clytie, whose jealousy had caused the death 
of the princess, he refused ever to speak to her or look 
at her again : and he turned her into a sunflower, 
which has no perfume like the myrrh-tree into which 
he had changed Leucothoe. But, in spite of his scorn 
and of everything he could do to her, Clytie loved him 
still : and though he would not look at her, she still 
spends her whole time in gazing up at him with her 
blossoms, which are her eyes. People say that the 
blossoms of the sunflower always turn toward the sun 
— towards the east when he is rising, toAvard the west 
when he is setting, and straight up at noon, Avhen he 
is in the middle of the sky. Of course, like all other 
blossoms, they close at night, when he is no longer to 
be seen. As for the sun himself, I expect he has for- 
gotten both Clytie and Leucothoe long ago ; and sees 
no difference betAveen them and any other trees or 
lloAvers. 


lA^. — THE NARCISSUS. 

This story has nothing to do Avith Apollo : but I 
may as Avell tell it among the other flower stories. 

There Avas a wery beautiful nymph named Echo, 
wdio had never, in all her life, seen anybody handsomer 
than the god Pan. You have read that Pan Avas the 
chief of all the Satyrs, and Avhat hideous monsters the 


SOME FLOWER STORIES. 


53 


Satyrs were. So, when Pan made love to her, she very 
naturally ke})t him at a distance : and, as she supposed 
him to be no worse-looking than the rest of the world, 
she made up her mind to have nothing to do with love 
or love-making, and was quite content to ramble about 
the woods all alone. 

But one day, to her surprise, she happened to meet 
with a young man who was as different from Pan as 
any creature could be. Instead of having a goat\s 
legs and long hairy arms, he was as graceful as Apollo 
himself : no horns grew out of his forehead, and his 
ears were not long, pointed, and covered with hair, but 
just like Echo’s own. And he was just as beautiful in 
face as he was graceful in form. I doubt if Echo 
would have thought even Apollo himself so beauti- 
ful. 

The nymphs were rather shy, and Echo was the 
very shyest of them all. But she admired him so 
much that she could not leave the spot, and at last 
she even plucked up courage enough to ask him. 

What is the name of the most beautiful being in the 
whole world? ” 

» 

“Whom do you mean?” asked he. “Yours^f? 
If you want to know your’ own name, y(ni can tell it 
])etter than I can.” 

“ No,” said Echo, I don’t mean myself. I mean 
you. What is your name ? ” 


54 


APOLLO. 


“ My name is Narcissus/’ said he. ‘‘ But as for my 
beiim beautiful — that is absurd.” 

0 

“Narcissus!” repeated Echo to herself. ‘Mt is a 
beautiful iiame. Which of the nymphs have you come 
to meet here in these Avoods all alone? Slie is lucky 
— wlioever she may be.” 

1 liaA^e (*.ome to meet nobody,” said Narcissus. 
‘•But — am 1 really so beautiful? I have often been 
told so by otlier girls, of coui'se ; but i-eally it is more 
tlian I can (piite believe.” 

‘‘And you don’t care for any of those girls?” 

“Why, you see," said Narcissus, “when all the 
girls one knows call one beautiful, there’s no reason 
Avhy I should care for one more than another. They 
all seem alike Avhen they are all always saying just the 
same tiling. Ah ! I do wish 1 cimld ^ee myself, so 
that I could tell if it was really ti’ue. 1 would marry 
the girl who could give me the Avish of iny heart — to 
see myself as other people see me. But as nobody can 
make me do that, why, I suppose 1 shall get on A^ery 
Avell without marrying anybody at all.” 

Looking-glasses had not been invented in those days, 
so that Narcissus had really never seen even so much 
of himself as his chin. 

“What!” cried Echo, full of hope and joy; “if 
1 make you see your oavu face, you Avjll marry 
me / 


SOME FLOWER STORIES. 


55 


“ I said so,” said he. “ And of course what I say 
I’ll do, I’ll do.” 

“ Then — come with me ! ” 

Echo took him by the hand and led him to the edge 
of a little lake in the middle of the wood, full of clear 
water. 

“ Kneel down. Narcissus,” said she, “ and bend your 
eyes over the water-side. That lake is the mirror 
where Diana comes every morning to dress her hair, 
and in which, every night, the moon and the stars 
behold themselves. Look, into that water, and see 
what manner of man you are ! ” 

Narcissus kneeled down and looked into the lake. 
And, better than in any common looking-glass, he saw 
the reflected image of his own face — and he looked, 
and looked, and could not take his eyes away. 

But Echo at last grew tired of waiting. “ Have you 
forgotten what you promised me? ” asked she. ‘‘ Are 
you content now ? Do you see now that what I told 
you is true ? ” 

He lifted his eyes at last. “ Oh, beautiful creature 
that I am ! ” said he. “ I am indeed the most divine 
creature in the whole wide world. I love myself 
madly. Go away. I want to be with my beautiful 
image, with myself, all alone. I can’t marry you. I 
shall never love anybody but myself for the rest of my 


56 


APOLLO. 


days.” And he kneeled down and gazed at himself 
once more, while poor Echo had to go weeping away. 

Narcissus had spoken truly. He loved himself and 
his own face so much that he could think of nothing 
else : he spent all his days and nights by the lake, and 
never took his eyes away. But unluckily his image, 
which was only a shadow in the water, could not love 
him hack again. And so he pined away until he died. 
And when his friends came to look for his body, they 
found nothing but a flower, into which his soul had 
turned. So they called it the Narcissus, and we call 
it so still. And yet I don’t know that it is a particu- 
larly conceited or selfish flower. 

As for poor Echo, she pined away too. She faded 
and faded until nothing was left of her but her voice. 
There are many places where she can even now be 
heard. And she still has the same trick of saying to 
vain and foolish people whatever they say to them- 
selves, or whatever they would like best to hear said 
to them. If you go where Echo is, and call out loudly, 
“ I am beautiful ! ” — she will echo your very words. 


PART VI. — PRESUMPTION; OR, THE STORY 
OF PHAETHON. 


rj^HERE was a nymph named Clymene, who had a 
son so handsome that he was called Phaethon, 
which means in Greek, “ bright, radiant, shining,” like 
the sun. When he grew up the goddess Venus was 
so charmed with him that she made him the chief ruler 
of all her temples, and took him into such high favor 
that all his friends and companions were filled with 
envy. 

One day, when Phaethon was foolishly bragging 
about his own beauty and greatness, and how much he 
was put by a goddess above other men, one of his com- 
panions, named Epaphus, answered him, scornfully: — 
‘‘Ah ! you may boast and brag, but you are a no- 
body after all ! My father was J upiter, as everybody 
knows ; but who was yours ? ” 

So Phaethon went to his mother Clymene, and 
said : — 

“ Mother, they taunt me for not being the son of a 
god ; me, who am fit to be a god myself for my grace 


58 


APOLLO. 


and beauty. Who was my father ? He must at least 
have been some great king, to be the father of such a 
son as I.” 

“A king!” said Clymene. “Ay — and a greater 
than all kings I Tell them, from me, that your father 
is Phoebus Apollo, the god of the Sun ! ” 

But when he went back and told his friends, “ My 
father is Phoebus Apollo, the god of the Sun,” Epaphus 
and the others only scorned him and laughed at him 
the more. “You’ve caught your bragging from your 
mother,” said they. “You’re her son, anyhow, who- 
ever your father may be.” 

When Clymene heard this, she felt terribly offended. 
“ Then I will prove my words,” said she. “ Go to the 
Palace of the Sun and enter boldly. There you will 
see the Sun-god in all his glory. Demand of him to 
declare you to be his son openly before all the world, 
so that even the sons of Jupiter shall hang their heads 
for shame.” 

If Apollo had been still banished upon earth, of 
course Phaethon could have found him very easily. 
But the nine years of banishment were over now, and 
the only way to find the god of the Sun was to seek 
him in his palac^e above the sky. IIow Phaiithon man- 
aged to get there I have never heard ; but I suppose 
his mother was able to tell him the secret way. You 
may imagine the glorious and wonderful place it was 


PRESUMPTION. 


59 


— the House of the Sun, with the stars for the windows 
that are lighted up at night, and the clouds for cur- 
tains, and the blue sky for a garden, and the Zodiac 
for a carriage-di-ive. The sun itself, as you have heard, 
is the chariot of Apollo, drawn by four horses of white 
fire, who feed on golden grain, and are driven by the 
god himself round and round the world. Phaethon 
entered boldly, as his mother had told him, found 
Apollo in all his glory, and said : — 

“ My mother, Clymene, says that I am your son. Is 
it true ? ” 

“ Certainly,” said Apollo, “ it is true.” 

“ Then give me a sign,” said Phaethon, that all may 
know and believe. Make me sure that I am your son.” 

“ Tell them that I say so,” said Apollo. “ There — 
don’t hinder me any more. My horses are harnessed : 
it is time for the sun to rise.” 

“No,” said Phaethon, “they will only say that I 
brag and lie. Give me a sign for all the world to see 

— a sign that only a father would give to his own 
child.” 

“Very well,” said Apollo, who was getting impatient 
at being so hindered. “ Only tell me what you want 
me to do, and it shall be done.” 

“ You swear it — by Styx ? ” said Phaethon. 

Now you must know that the Styx was a river in 
Hades by which the gods swore ; and that an oath “ by 


60 


APOLLO. 


Styx ” was as binding upon a god as a plain promise 
is upon a gentleman. 

“I swear it — by Styx !” said Apollo, rather rashly, 
as you will see. But he was now in a very great huiTy 
indeed. 

“ Then,” said Phaethon, “ let me drive the horses of 
the Sun for one whole day ! ” 

This put Apollo in terrible alarm, for he knew very 
well that no hand, not even a god’s, can drive the 
horses of the Sun but his own. But he had sworn by 
Styx — the oath that cannot be broken. All he could 
do was to keep the world waiting for sunrise while he 
showed Phaethon how to hold the reins and the whip, 
and pointed out what course to take, and warned him 
of the dangers of the road. “ But it’s all of no use. 
You’ll never do it,” said he. “ Give it up, while there 
is yet time ! You know not what you do.” 

“ Oh, but I do, though,” said Phaethon. “ I know 
I can. There — I understand it all now, without an- 
other word.” So saying, he sprang into the chariot, 
seized the reins, and gave the four fiery horses four 
lashes that sent them flying like comets through the air. 

“ Hold them in — hold them hard ! ” cried Apollo. 
But Phaethon was off, and too far off to hear. 

Off indeed ! and where ? The world must have been 
amazed that day to see the sun rise like a rocket and 


PRESUMPTION. 


61 


go dashing about the sky, north, south, east, west — 
anywhere, nowhere, everywhere ! W ell the horses knew 
that it was not Apollo, their master, who plied the 
whip and held the reins. They took their bits between 
their teeth, and — bolted. They kicked a planet to 
bits (astronomers know where the pieces are still) : they 
broke holes in the chariot, which we can see, and call 
“ sun-spots,” to this day : it was as if chaos were come 
again. At last, Phaethon, whose own head was reel- 
ing, saw to liis horror that the horses, in their mad 
rush, were getting nearer and nearer to the earth itself 
— and what would happen then ? If the wheels touched 
the globe we live on, it would be scorched to a cinder. 
Nearer, nearer, nearer it came — till a last wild kick 
broke the traces, overturned the sun itself, and Phae- 
thon fell, and fell, and fell, till he fell into the sea, 
and was drowned. And then the horses trotted quietly 
home. 

The story of Phaethon is always taken as a warning 
against being conceited and self-willed. But there are 
some curious things about it still to be told. The 
Greeks fancied that the great desert of Sahara, in 
Africa, is the place where the earth was scorched by 
the sun’s chariot-wheel, and that the African negroes 
were burned black in the same way, and have never 
got white again. And the poplars are Phaethon’s 
sisters, who wept themselves for his death into trees. 


DTAISTA ; AND THE STOEY OF 
OEION. 


OU know that the fixed stars are divided into 



groups, called constellations. A name has been 
given to every constellation ; and each is supposed to 
be like the shape of some creature or thing — such as 
the Great Bear, the Swan, the Cup, the Eagle, the 
Dragon, and so on. Most of their names were given 
by the Greeks, who fancied they could see in them 
the shapes after which they were named. We have 
kept the old names, and still paint the supposed figure 
of each constellation on the celestial globe, which is 
the image or map of the sky. 

Now the grandest, brightest, and largest of all the 
constellations is named Orion. It is supposed to repre- 
sent a giant, with a girdle and a SAVord, and is rather 
more like what is fancied than most of the constella- 
tions are. You are now going to read the story of 
Orion, and how he came to be placed among the stars. 
You may notice, by the way, that the planets, the sun, 
and the moon are named after gods and goddesses ; the 
fixed stars after mortals who were raised to the skies. 


DIANA; AND THE STORY OF ORION. 


63 


There was once a man named Hyrieus, whose wife 
died, and he loved her so much, and was so overcome 
with grief that he vowed never to marry again. But 
she left him no children. And when, in course of 
time, he grew old, he sadly felt the want of sons 
and daughters to make his old age less hard and 
lonely. 

One day it happened that Jupiter, Neptune, and 
Mercury (who was one of the gods, and Jupiter’s chief 
minister and messenger) were on a visit to earth. The 
night fell, and they grew tired and hungry. So they 
wandered on to find rest and food ; and, as luck would 
have it, they came to the cottage of Hyrieus, and asked 
for shelter. Hyrieus thought they were only three 
poor benighted travelers who had lost their way. But 
he was very good and charitable, so he asked them in 
and gave them the best fare he had — bread, roots, 
and wine — he himself waiting upon them, and trying 
to make them comfortable. He poured out a cup of 
wine, and offered it first to Neptune. But Neptune, 
instead of drinking it, rose from his seat and gave the 
cup to Jupiter, like a subject to a king who should be 
first served. You may not think there was much to 
notice in this ; hut Hyrieus noticed it, and then, look- 
ing intently upon the stranger to whom Neptune had 
given the cup, he was struck by a sudden religious 
awe that told him he was in the presence of the king 


64 


DIANA; AND THE STORY OF ORION. 


and father of gods and men. He straightway fell on 
his knees and said : — 

“ I am poor and humble ; but I have in my stall one 
ox to plough my field. I will gladly offer him up as a 
sacrifice for joy that Jupiter has thought me worthy 
to give him bread and wine.” 

“You are a good and pious man,” said Jupiter. 
“ Ask of us any gift you please, and it shall be yours.” 

“ My wife is dead,” said Hyrieus, “ and I have 
vowed never to marry again. But let me have a 
child.” 

“ Take the ox,” said J upiter, “ and sacrifice him.” 

So Hyrieus, being full of faith, sacrificed his ox, and, 
at the bidding of Jupiter, buried the skin. And from 
that skin, and out of the ground, there grew a child, 
who was named Orion. 

Orion grew and grew till he became a giant, of 
wonderful strength and splendid beauty. He took 
the most loving care of Hyrieus, and was the best of 
sons to him. But when the old man died, Orion went 
out into the world to seek his fortune. And the first 
service he found was that of Diana, the sister of 
Apollo, and queen and goddess of the Moon. 

Diana, however, had a great deal to do besides look- 
ing- after the moon. She was three goddesses in one 
— a goddess of the sky, a goddess of earth, and a god- 


DIANA ; AND THE STORY OF ORION. 


65 


dess of Hades besides. In heaven she was called 
Luna, whose duty is to light the world when Apollo is 
off duty. In Hades she was called Hecate, who, with 
her scepter, rules the ghosts of dead souls. And on 
earth her name is Diana, the queen of forests and 
mountains, of wild animals and hunters. She wears a 
crescent on her forehead and a quiver at her back ; her 
limbs are bare, and she holds a bow, with which she 
shoots as well as her brother Apollo. Just as he is 
called Phoebus, so she is often called Phoebe. She 
goes hunting all night among the hills and woods, 
attended by the Nymphs and Oreads, of whom she is 
queen. There are not so many stories about her as 
about the other gods and goddesses, and yet she is 
really the most interesting of them all, as you will see 
some day. 

This great strange .goddess had sworn never to love 
or marry — had sworn it by Styx, I suppose. But 
Orion was so beautiful and so strong and so great a 
hunter that she went as near to loving him as she ever 
did to loving any one. She had him always with her, 
and could never bear him to leave her. But Orion 
never thought of becoming the husband of a goddess, 
and he fell in love with a mortal princess, the daughter 
of QEnopion, King of Chios, an island in the iEgean Sea. 

When, however, he asked the king for his daughter, 
QEnopion was terribly frightened at the idea of having 


66 


DIANA ; AND THE STORY OF ORION. 


a giant for his son-in-law. But he dared not say “No.” 
He answered him : — 

“ My kingdom is overrun with terrible wild beasts. 
I will give my daughter to the man who kills them 
all.” He said this, feeling sure that any man who 
tried to kill all the wild beasts in Chios would himself 
be killed. 

But Orion went out, and killed all the wild beasts 
in no time, with his club and his sword. Then 
ffinopioh was still more afraid of him, and said : — 

“ You have won my daughter. But, before you 
marry her, let us drink together, in honor of this joy- 
ful day.” 

Orion, thinking no harm, went with G^hopion to 
the sea-shore, where they sat down and drank to- 
gether. But Q^nopion (whose name means “ The 
Wine-Drinker ” ) knew a great deal more about what 
wine will do, and how to keep sober, than Orion. So 
before long Orion fell asleep with the strong Chian 
Avine, Avhich the King had invented; and when Orion 
was sound asleep, Q^nopion put out both his eyes. 

The giant awoke to find himself blind, and did not 
know Avhat to do or which way to go. But at last, in 
the midst of his despair, he heard the sound of a black- 
smith’s forge. Guided by the clang, he reached the 
place, and prayed the blacksmith to climb up on his 
shoulders, and so lend him his eyes to guide him. 


DIANA ; AND THE STOKY OF ORION. 


67 


The blacksmith consented, and seated himself on the 
giant’s shoulder. Then said Orion : — 

“ Guide me to the place where I can see the first 
sunbeam that rises at daybreak in the east over the sea.” 

Orion strode out, and the blacksmith guided him, 
and at last they came to the place where the earliest 
sunbeam first strikes upon human eyes. It struck upon 
Orion’s, and it gave him back his sight again. Then, 
thanking the blacksmith, he plunged into the sea to 
swim back to Diana. 

Now Apollo had long noticed his sister’s affection 
for Orion, and was very much afraid for fear she should 
break her vow against love and marriage. To break 
an oath would be a horrible thing for a goddess to do. 
While Orion was away, making love and killing wild 
beasts in Chios, there was no fear; but now he was 
coming back, there was no knowing what might happen. 
So he thought of a trick to get rid of Orion, and he 
said : — 

“ My sister, some people say that you can shoot as 
well as I can. Now, of course, that is absurd.” 

“ Why absurd ? ” asked Diana. ‘‘ I can shoot quite 
as well as you.” 

“We will soon see that,” said Apollo. “Do you 
see that little dark speck out there, in the sea? I 
wager that you won’t hit it, and that I can.” 


68 


DIANA ; AND THE STORY OF ORION. 


“We will see,” said Diana. So she drew her bow 
and shot her arrow at the little dark speck, that seemed 
dancing on the waves miles and miles away. To hit it 
seemed impossible. But Diana’s arrow went true. The 
speck was hit — it sank, and rose no more. 

It was the head of Orion, who was swimming hack 
to Diana. She had been tricked into killing him with 
an arrow from her own bow. All she could do Avas to 
place him among the stars. ^ 

So her vow was kept ; and from that time she never 
allowed herself to be seen by a man. Women may 
see her ; but if men see her, they go mad or die. 
There is a terrible story of a hunter named Actaeon, 
who once happened to catch a glimpse of her as she 
was bathing in a pool. She instantly turned him into 
a stag, so that his own dogs fell upon him and killed 
him. ■ And another time, when she saw a shepherd 
named Endymion on Mount Latmos, and could not 
help wishing to kiss him for his beauty, she covered 
herself with clouds as she stooped, and threw him into 
a deep sleep, so that he might not see her face, or 
know that he had been kissed by the moon. Only 
from that hour he became a poet and a prophet, full 
of strange fancies ; and it is said that every man be- 
comes a madman or a poet who goes to sleep in the 
moonlight on the top of a hill. Diana comes and kisses 
him in his dreams. 


MINEEVA; OR, WISDOM. 


day Jupiter had a very bad headache. He had 
never had one before, so he did not know what 
it was or what to do. One god recommended one 
thing and another proposed another, and Jupiter tried 
them all ; but the more things he tried the worse the 
headache grew. At last he said : — 

“I can’t stand this any more. Vulcan, bring your 
great sledge-hammer and split open my skull. Kill 
or cure.” 

Vulcan brought his sledge-hammer and split open 
Jupiter’s skull with a single blow. And out there 
came a fine, full-grown goddess, clad in complete armor 
from head to foot, armed with a spear and shield, and 
with beautiful large blue eyes. She was Minerva (or, 
in Greek, Athene), the Wisdom that comes from Jupi- 
ter’s brain, and makes it ache sometimes. 

Minerva was wonderfully good as well as wonder- 
fully wise : not that there is much difference between 
goodness and wisdom. She is the only goddess, or god 
either, who never did a foolish, an unkind, or a wrong 


70 


MINERVA ; OR WISDOM. 


thing. By the way, though, she once took it into her 
head that she could play the flute, and the gods laughed 
at her ; but when she looked into a brook and saw 
what ugly faces she made when she played, she kn^v 
at once what made the gods laugh, laughed at herself, 
threw the flute away, and never played it again ; so 
she was even wise enough not to be vain, or to think 
she could do well what she did badly. 

The only bad thing about good people is that there 
are so few good stories to tell of them. She was Jupi- 
ter’s favorite daughter, and no wonder ; and she was 
the only one of all the gods and goddesses whom he 
allowed to use his thunder. She was the only one he 
could trust, I suppose. She was rather too fond of 
fighting, considering that she was a lady, but she was 
as good at her needle as her sword. She was so good 
at spinning, that a woman named Arachne, who was 
the best spinner and seamstress in the world, hanged 
herself in despair because she could not spin a web so 
neatly and finely as Minerva. Tlie goddess turned her 
into a spider, who is still the finest spinner in the world, 
next to Minerva alone. 

Once the people of Attica wanted a name for their 
capital, which they had just been building. They asked 
the gods, and the gods in council decreed that the new 
city should be named by the god who should give the 
most useful new present to mankind. Neptune struck 


MINERVA ; OR WISDOM. 


71 


the earth with his trident, and out sprang the horse, 
and nobody thought that his gift could be beaten. But 
Minerva planted the olive, which is the plant of peace. 
So the gods gave the honor of naming the new city to 
Minerva, because the emblem of peace is better than 
the horse, who is the emblem of war. The name she 
gave was from her own — Athense ; and the city is 
called Athens to this day. The Athenians always paid 
their chief worship to their goddess-godmother. 

Minerva was very handsome, but rather manly-look- 
ing for a goddess, and grave ; her most famous feature 
was her blue eyes. “ The Blue-eyed Maid ” is one of 
her most usual titles in poetry. She wore a large 
helmet with waving plumes ; in one hand she held a 
spear ; on her left arm she carried the shield on which 
was the head of the Gorgon Medusa, with living snakes 
darting from it. But sometimes she carried a distaff 
instead of a spear. The olive was of course sacred to 
her, and her favorite bird is the owl, who is always 
called the Bird of Wisdom. 


VEisrus. 


PART I. — THE GOD OF FIRE. 


OU may remember reading, at the end of the 



story of “The Gods and the Giants,” that the 
quarrels of Jupiter and Juno never ceased to disturb 
the peace of the sky where the gods dwell. Juno’s 
temper was terrible, and so was her jealousy, and her 
pride was beyond all bounds. On the other hand, her 
character was without reproach, while Jupiter was the 
worst husband in the whole of heaven. To such a 
pitch did their quarrels at last reach, that Juno went 
away to earth, vowing never to see Jupiter again. 

I suppose, however, that Jupiter loved Juno in the 
depth of his heart, or else he was afraid of the scandal 
that would follow upon a separation between the King 
and Queen of Heaven. At any rate he consulted his 
friends as to how the quarrel could be made up, and 
was advised by one of them. King Cithseron of Platsea, 
to have it announced that he was about to make some 
other goddess his queen. On hearing the news, back 


THE GOD OF FIRE. 


73 


flew Juno in a rage to the sky to stop the marriage, 
and finding that there was no marriage to stop, con- 
sented to remain, and to forgive her hu'sband once 
more. 

But to quarrel once always makes it easier and 
easier to quarrel again, and harder and harder to 
keep love or friendship alive. And before long came 
another quarrel — the worst of all. Juno scolded furi- 
ously, and Jupiter at last said : — 

“Enough. You shall destroy the peace of heaven 
no longer. Out you shall go.” 

“All the better,” said Juno. “I will go back to 
earth as I did before. And I am not going to he 
tricked by your false stories a second time.” 

“No,” said Jupiter; “the happiness of the earth is 
as dear to me as the happiness of the sky. You shall 
neither go to earth nor stay in heaven.” 

Taking a long golden chain, he fastened it round 
her, under her shoulders. Then he sent for one of the 
Cyclopes’ anvils, and fastened it to her feet. Securing 
the other* end of the chain to the keystone of the rain- 
bow, he let her down, so that Juno hung suspended in 
mid-air, neither upon the earth nor in the sky, while 
the anvil at her feet prevented her from swinging and 
from climbing up again by the chain. 

It was a terrible position for Juno. Her anger was 
still at full heat, and such a degradation, in full sight 


74 


VENUS. 


of gods and men, was a heavy wound to her pride, not 
to speak of the bodily pain wliich she had helplessly to 
bear. But she scorned to beg for pardon. So there 
she hung, plotting revenge, until night came — till 
Apollo was asleep under the sea, and Diana was away 
hunting, and Jupiter, making the most of his long-lost 
quiet, was dozing upon his throne. Then Juno, who 
certainly could not sleep with an anvil dragging at 
her legs and a chain at her shoulders, heard a whisper 
from above, ‘‘Hush ! Don’t start — don’t scream; keep 
quite still, and I’ll soon draw your majesty up again.” 

Not that Juno had thought of starting or screaming 
— she was much too dignified. Besides, the whisper, 
though rather rough and hoarse, was very pleasant to 
hear just then. For she recognized the voice of Vulcan, 
her own son, and she knew that he was going to help 
her. 

So she kept quite quiet as she was bidden, and 
presently she felt herself, anvil and all, being drawn 
very slowly upwards, just as you may have seen a 
heavy sack drawn up by a machine to a warehouse 
window. It must have been rather painful being 
dragged up while the anvil dragged her down ; but 
she found herself on firm sky at last, and sighed with 
relief when Vulcan, whipping out his knife, cut the 
cord at her feet, and let the anvil go thundering down 
upon the earth below. 


THE GOD OF FIRE. 


75 


You can fancy what a clatter it made. People 
started out of their sleep — not that that mattered. 
But it did matter that Jupiter started out of his. He 
sprang from his throne, and saw at once what had 
happened. The next moment, with a tremendous 
kick, he sent Vulcan flying after the anvil. 

Vulcan fell and fell, spinning through space, till he 
lost his senses, and then — 

The anvil had fallen upon the island of Lemnos, and 
the islanders, rushing out of their houses to see what 
the crash and clatter could be about, were amazed to 
see what looked like a confused bundle of legs and 
arms tumbling and whirling through the air. As it 
came nearer, it seemed to be a human figure. So the 
people made a sort of network of their arms, to catch 
it and prevent its being dashed to pieces. 

And lucky it was for Vulcan that they did. For 
when he came to himself he found himself with noth- 
ing worse the matter than one leg badly broken. 

God though he was, he always remained lame, and 
he was naturally somewhat deformed. But neither 
lameness nor deformity prevented his having amazing 
strength ; and he was as clever as he was strong. The 
people of Lemnos treated him kindly, and he in return 
taught them to work in metals. They built him a 
palace, and he set up forges and furnaces, and made 


76 


VENUS. 


all sorts of useful and curious things. He used to 
work at the forges himself, blowing the fires and 
wielding the hammer. Among the curious things he 
made were two mechanical statues, which seemed alive, 
walked about with him, and even helped him in his 
work. And at last there came into his head a plan 
for getting called back into heaven. So he shut 
himself up in his smithy with his two mechanical 
workmen, and let nobody know what he was doing 
there. Those mechanical workmen were among the 
most useful things he made, for he could trust them 
to help him in his most secret work without under- 
standing it or being able to tell how it was done. 

One day the gods up in heaven were excited by the 
arrival of a splendid golden throne — a present from 
the earth for Jupiter. How it came there nobody 
knew. But there it was, and all agreed that nothing 
so magnificent in its way had ever been seen before, 
even in the skies. Jujjiter was about to try how it 
felt to sit upon, when Juno, jealous even of that, went 
quickly before him and seated herself. 

“ Ah ! that is a comfortable throne ! ” she exclaimed. 
“ There is nothing like gold to sit upon, after all.” 

Jupiter was annoyed with Juno’s behavior, as indeed 
he was with most things she did. As, however, he did 
not like to make another scene before all the gods and 


THE GOD OF FIRE. 


77 


goddesses, he waited patiently for her to get up again. 
But she did not move. 

At last — “I think that is my throne,” he hinted, in 
a tone which seemed gentle, but which Juno under- 
stood exceedingly well. Still she did not move. 

“Thrones are not meant to go to sleep upon,” he 
said in a yet more meaning way. 

And still she did not move. 

“ Get up ! ” he thundered at last, his patience gone. 

“I can’t!” was all she could say, as she made a 
vain effort to rise. “The throne is holding me with 
its arms I ” 

And so it proved. Juno was held so tightly by 
the throne that she could scarcely struggle. It was 
very strange. And presently it became sti’anger still. 
Neither the authority of Jupiter, nor all the strength 
and skill of all Olympus together, could loosen the 
clutch of the magic throne. 

“ Ah ! ” said Mercury — who, you may remember, 
was Jupiter’s chief messenger, and the quickest and 
cleverest of all the gods — “if only Vulcan were here I 
He understands these things.” 

“And why is he not here? ” asked Jupiter, sternly. 

But nobody dared answer, though everybody knew. 
However, Mercury took the hint, vanished for an 
instant or two, and, while the gods were vainly tugging 
at the arms of the throne, reappeared, followed by a 


78 


VENUS. 


limping figure all black and hot from the forge — in 
short, by Vulcan. 

“What is the matter?” asked Vulcan, as innocently 
as if he had nothing to do with it at all. “ Ah ! 
I see. A clever invention; but — By the way, I can’t 
afford another broken leg : so if I help my mother 
this time — ” 

Seeing from the face of Jupiter that he had nothing 
to fear, he pressed the tip * of his grimy finger upon a 
secret spring — the arms instantly opened, and Juno 
was free. What they did with the throne I cannot tell 
you ; but you may be certain that nobody ever sat on 
it again. 

After that, Vulcan remained among the gods as the 
god of Fire, and was the chief blacksmith of nature. 
He opened vast forges in the middle of th^ earth, where 
he made weapons and armor for gods and heroes, and 
thunderbolts for Jupiter. The Cyclopes, the giants 
with one eye in the middle of their foreheads, were liis 
workmen. The chimneys of his furnaces are called 
volcanoes, of which the chief is Mount jEtna in the 
island of Sicily; and one can tell when some great work 
is going on by the smoke and flame that bursts out of 
these. Volcano, you will no doubt notice, is very 
nearly the same word as Vulcan. 

And so things went on quietly till one day a very 
wonderful thing happened. Nobody has ever been able 


THE GOD OF FIRE. 


79 


to account for it or understand it ; so I must just tell 
you the story as it stands. One lovely spring morning, 
when there was scarcely the softest breeze to stir the 
sea, shining like a mirror in the sun, a light amber- 
colored froth that floated upon the ripples was seen, by 
watchers upon the shore of the island of Cyprus, to 
gather into a delicate rosy cloud that presently began 
to tremble as if it were trying to be alive. It still 
rested lightly upon the Avater — so lightly that the 
breeze, soft and gentle as it was, might have blown it 
away; but its delicate trembling carried it upwards till 
at last it seemed to breathe, then to take shape, and at 
last blossomed into the most beautiful woman — if 
woman it was — that had ever been seen in the world, 
or even in heaven. With wonderful grace she glided 
to the shore ; and poets have told how the zephyrs, or 
soft west winds, guided her as she came, and the four 
seasons received her on the shore. The people of 
Cyprus could only wonder and worship ; and this was 
the birth of the great goddess Venus, the Queen of 
Love, whom the Greeks called Aphrodite, which means 
born of the Foam of the Sea. 

And this wonderful goddess of Love and Beauty 
Jupiter chose to give in marriage to Vulcan, the 
deformed and limping god of Fire. 


PART II.— LOVE AND THE SOUL; or, THE STORY 
OE CUPID AND PSYCHE. 



'HE fact was, that Jupiter himself had fallen in 


love with the beautiful new goddess. But she 
would have nothing to say to him : and so, just out of 
anger and revenge, he ordered her to marry Vulcan, 
because he was ugly, deformed, and always black with 
working at his forges. 

Altogether it was an unlucky day when Venus came 
into the sky. Her beauty turned the heads of the gods, 
and filled the goddesses with envy and jealousy. But 
all that mattered nothing to her, for she had a magic 
zone, or girdle, called “ Cestus ” in Latin : and when- 
ever she put it on she became so irresistibly charming 
that everybody forgave her everything. Not only the 
gods, hut men also, became her lovers, her own favorite 
among them all being Mars, the god of War — a cruel 
and savage god, very unlike the rest, delighting in 
battle and slaughter. Then, on earth, she tried her 
best to make a very handsome young prince named 
Adonis fall in love with her. But he — strange to say 
— cared nothing for her. The only tiring he cared for 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


81 ■ 

in the world was hunting : he scorned everything else, 
Venus included. Still, in spite of his scorn for her, 
she mourned for him miserably when he was killed by 
a wild boar. She changed him into the flower called 
Anemone, so that she might still find him upon earth : 
though some people say her grief was such that Death 
took pity on her, and allowed him to come to life again 
for six months at a time every year. This might mean 
that Adonis is only another name for the beauty of the 
earth, which comes to life for the six months of spring 
and summer, and dies for the six months of autumn and 
winter. For most of these stories have some sort of 
meaning. 

Venus had a child, named Cupid, which means love. 

You must often have seen pictures and statues of him 
— a very beautiful boy, with wings, carrying a bow and 
arrows. They were magic arrows. For if any man 
was pricked by one of their points, he fell in love with 
the first woman he saw ; or a woman, in like manner, 
with the first man. And as Cupid was exceedingly 
mischievous, and fond of aiming his arrows at people 
for his own amusement,’ the wrong women were always 
falling in love with the wrong men, and the wrong men 
with the wrong women ; and so a great deal of fresh 
trouble came into the world, as if there had not been 
enough before, without the mischievous tricks of Cupid. 


82 


VENUS. 


Sometimes he went about blindfolded, shooting his 
arrows about at random : and then, of course, the con- 
fusion was worse than ever. It has been said that the 
bandage over his eyes means that love is blind to faults. 
But he does not always wear the bandage : and when 
he c^es, I believe it is only when he does not choose to 
see. 

Now in a certain city there lived a king and queen, 
who had three beautiful daughters. The name of the 
youngest was Psyche, and she was the most beautiful 
of all. So beautiful and so charming was she that the 
people worshiped her as a goddess, instead of Venus. 
This made Venus very angry indeed, that a mortal girl 
should receive the honor and worship due to the goddess 
of Beauty. So, in her jealous wrath, she said to 
Cupid : — 

“ Do you see that girl yonder ? I order you, as your 
mother, to make her fall in love with the very meanest 
of mankind — one so degraded that he cannot find his 
equal in wretchedness throughout the whole wide 
world.” 

Psyche’s elder sisters were both married to kings ; 
but she herself was so marvelously beautiful that no 
mere mortal dared to ask for her in marriage. This 
distressed the king, her father, greatly : for it was 
thought dishonorable for a princess not to marry. So 
he consulted the oracle of Apollo — an “oracle” being 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


83 


a place where a god’s voice answered questions. And 
the voice answered him thus : — 

“ On a cliff the maiden place : 

Deck her as yon deck the dead 
None that is of mortal race 
Shall so fair a maiden wed. 

But a being dread and dire, ^1^ 

Feared by earth, by heaven abhorred. 

Breathing venom, sword, and fire — 

He shall be the lady’s lord.” 

This answer made the king more unhappy than ever 
at the thought of having to give his favorite daughter 
to be devoured by some terrible monster. However, 
the oracle had to be obeyed, and the whole city gave 
itself up to mourning for many days. Then at last a 
funeral procession set out to conduct the poor princess 
to her doom. Her father and mother were distracted 
with grief, and Psyche alone showed cheerfulness and 
courage, doing all she could to comfort them, and to 
make them resigned to the will of heaven. 

When the procession reached the highest peak of a 
neighboring mountain, it returned to the city, and 
Psyche was left there all alone. Then her courage left 
her, and she threw herself upon the rock all trembling 
and weeping. But suddenly, in the midst of her dis- 
tress, she was gently lifted up by the wind, and as 
gently let down upon the soft turf of a secret valley in 
the very heart of the hill. 


84 


VENUS. 


It was a very delightful place, and Psyche fell 
pleasantly asleep. When she woke she saw a grove, 
with a fountain of water as clear as crystal, and near 
the fountain was a splendid palace, built of gold, cedar, 
and ivory, and paved with precious stones. Psyche 
approached it timidly, and presently found courage to 
enter. The beauty of the chambers lured her on and 
on, until at last she was fairly bewildered with admira- 
tion. All the wealth and beauty of the world seemed 
collected in this wonderful palace, and all without a 
lock or a chain to guard them. 

Suddenly, in the midst of her wonder, she heard a 
musical voice, saying : — 

“ Lady, wonder not nor fear ; 

All is thine thou findest here. 

On yon couch let slumber bless thee, 

Hands unseen shall bathe and dress thee, 

Bring thee meat and pour thee wine — 

Thine are we, and all is thine.” 

She looked round, but saw nobody. However, she saw 
the couch, and, being very tired with wandering about 
the palace and seeing so many wonders, lay down upon 
it and soon fell asleep. When quite rested, she rose 
and took a bath, being waited upon by invisible hands. 
Then she saw dishes of all sorts of dainties, and cups of 
wine, carried apparently without hands to a table, at 
which, being by this time exceedingly hungry, she sat 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


85 


down and made a delicious meal, attended by voices for 
servants. When she had finished eating, another voice 
sang to an invisible harp, and this performance was 
followed by a full chorus of such music as is only heard 
in heaven. And so at last the darkness of night came 
on. 

Then she heard a voice, different from all the rest, 
whisper close in her ear : — 

“ I am your husband. Psyche, of whom the oracle 
foretold. This my palace, with all its delight, is yours, 
and I shall make you very happy. But you must obey 
me in two things. You must never see your father or 
your mother or your sisters again, and you must never 
seek to see me at all. If you promise this, I swear to 
you that no harm shall befall your kindred, and that 
you shall be happy forever.” 

The whisper was strangely sweet and gentle for a 
terrible monster’s. Indeed, it was so loving and so 
tender that she forgot even to tremble. It went to 
her heart, and she could only whisper back : — 

“ I promise you.” 

Thenceforth Psyche lived in the palace, every day 
bringing her fresh surprises and pleasures, the voices 
keeping her company, and delighting her with their 
marvelous music. And as soon as it became too dark 
for her to see him, the lord of the palace, her husband. 


86 


VENUS. 


came to her and stayed with her till nearly daybreak, 
until at last she forgot everything except how good he 
was to her, and -how much she had learned to love him. 
It did not even trouble her that she had never seen 
him, for she thought of nothing but pleasing him and 
obeying his commands. 

But one day Psyche’s sisters, having heard of her 
fate, and having come all the way from their husbands’ 
* kingdoms to learn all about it, climbed together to the 
top of the mountain-peak to see if they could find 
any traces of her. Finding none, they wept and beat 
their breasts till the rocks resounded with their cries. 
Nay, their lamentations reached the palace itself; and 
Psyche, who loved her sisters, ran, forgetful of her 
promise, to the foot of the mountain, whence she saw 
them above mourning for her in an agony of woe. 

The sight of their grief was too much for Psyche : 
it seemed so cruel that her sisters should mourn for her 
as dead while all the while she was alive and happy. 
Surely the husband who loved her so much did not 
mean the promise to prevent her from putting their 
hearts at ease. So she gave a command, and forthwith 
the invisible hands lifted her sisters, and carried them 
down safely into the secret valley. 

Imagine their surprise ! But imagine it still more 
when their lost sister, after embracing them, led them 
into her palace, showed them her treasures, entertained 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


87 


them with invisible concerts, and feasted them sumptu- 
ously. 

“And the lord, your husband,” asked the eldest sister 
at last, “what manner of man may he be? And does 
he use you well and make you happy ? ” 

The sudden question took Psyche aback. It seemed 
so strange to have to answer that she had never seen 
the face of her liushand — that she no more knew what 
he was like than they. So, to avert their curiosity, 
she said : — 

“ He is an excellent husband and makes me very 
happy indeed — a handsome young man, who has not 
yet grown a heard : he spends his days in hunting 
among the mountains, or no doubt you would have 
seen him. . . . But it is time for us to part, my 
sisters, or it will he dark before you get home.” 

So, loading them with jewels and golden ornaments, 
she embraced them, and, calling the invisible hands, had 
them conveyed safely back to the top of the mountain. 

Whether the sisters had been honest in their mourn- 
ing for Psyclie I cannot tell: though I think tliey 
made more noise about it than people make Avho really 
and truly grieve. Anyhow, they were now filled with 
envy of Psyche’s wealth and happiness. 

“ To think of my being married to a bald, miserly 
old man,” said tlie eldest sister on their way home, 
“ while that minx lias a handsome young husband who 


88 


VENUS. 


squanders untold wealth upon her ! And how proud 
she has grown ! Why, she spoke to us as if we were 
her slaves.” 

“ And to think,” said the second sister, ‘‘ of my 
being married to a gouty cripple ! You may take 
things patiently, sister, and put up with her airs : 
but not I. I propose that we hit on some plan to 
take down her pride.” 

So they hid the presents that Psyche had given them, 
redoubled their cries and groans, told their father and 
mother that Psyche had certainly been devoured, and 
returned to their own kingdoms for a while. But only 
for a while. Having arranged a plan, they returned to 
the top of the mountain : and in such a hurry were 
they to revisit Psyche that they leapt into the valley 
and would have come down with broken necks had 
not a passing breeze, who recognized them as Psyche’s 
sisters, caught them and made their fall easy. Psyche 
could not help being glad to see them again, for she 
loved them very dearly, and, in spite of her happiness, 
hungered for news from home. 

After she had entertained them as before : — 

“By the way,” asked the eldest sister, “the lord, 
your husband — what manner of man is he? You 
told us ; but I have forgotten.” 

And so had poor Psyche forgotten what she had told 
them. So she said, this time : — 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


89 


“ He is a middle-aged man, with a big beard, and a 
few gray hairs sprinkled here and there. He is a mer- 
chant, and travels into distant countries, or no doubt 
he would have been here to give you welcome.” 

Oh, you poor innocent ! ” said the sister. “ As if 
he could be young and middle-aged, bearded and beard- 
less, a merchant and a hunter ! It’s plain you’ve never 
seen that husband of yours, and no wonder he wouldn’t 
let you. For we have — we, who spend our lives in 
watching over your interests,” she went on, squeezing 
out a hypocritical tear. “Your husband is an enormous 
dragon, with many folds and coils, a neck swollen with 
poison, and huge gaping jaws. Think of the oracle, 
you poor, dear, deluded girl. He is only feeding you 
up with delicacies in order to eat you. Well — if you 
like the prospect, we have done our duty. And when 
you are eaten up, you won’t be able to say we didn’t 
tell you so.” 

Psyche was aghast with dismay. She trusted her 
sisters : there was the oracle : and it was certainly 
mysterious that her husband had never allowed her 
to look upon him. 

“ Oh I what shall I do ? ” she cried. 

“ Do? Why, there’s only one thing to do. We have 
thought it all out for you. Here is a lamp. Light 
it and hide it under a piece of tapestry. When the 
monster sleeps, uncover the lamp, and throw the light 


90 


VENUS. 


full upon him. Then take this knife, which has been 
well sharpened, and sever his head from his body. 
Thus the world will be freed from a curse, and you 
will be saved.” 

Thereupon they left her. And how shall Psyche’s 
feelings be described? Was it possible she was the 
wife of a horrible dragon? Promise or no promise, 
that she must know. So she hid the lighted lamp, 
as directed. The night came and her husband with 
it. When he had fallen into a deep sleep. Psyche, 
with naked feet, crept noiselessly across the floor, drew 
off the tapestry, and flooded the room with light, and 
she saw — 

A dragon? No — Cupid himself, asleep in all his 
beauty, with folded wings, and his bow and arrows by 
his side. 

She hung over him in love and wonder. Alas! a 
drop of oil from the lamp fell upon him, and scalded 
his shoulder. He woke, cast a look of reproach and 
sorrow upon poor faithless Psyche, seized his bow and 
arrows, spread his wings, and flew. She, overwhelmed 
with penitence for her disobedience and distrust, and 
desperate at the thought of losing him, clung with 
both hands to one of his feet, and was thus’ carried 
through the window and far away through the night 
till her strength failed her and she fell fainting to the 
ground. 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


91 


'OWlien she came to her senses, she found herself on 
the bank of a river, and, in her despair, threw herself 
into the stream. But the river took pity on her, and 
carried her into a bed of reeds, to whom the god Pan 
was giving a music-lesson. Pan told her how foolish 
she was to think she could mend matters by killing 
herself, and advised patience, which was none the worse 
counsel for being easy to preach and difficult to follow. 
However, he was very kiild, so she thanked him, and 
wandered out into the world, hoping that she might 
meet Cupid some day, and beg him to forgive her. 

Meanwhile Cupid lay tossing and groaning in his bed 
in his mother’s palace, for his scalded shoulder gave 
him great pain. Venus wondered what could possibly 
have happened, for all her questioning could get nothing 
from him but moans. And maybe she would never 
have known, had not a sea-gull come to her with a 
whole budget of scandal : among the rest, how Cuj^id 
was carrying on a love affair with a mortal. And when 
the gull told her that the girl’s name was said to be 
Psyche, the rage of the goddess knew no bounds. She 
hurried to Cupid’s bedside, and gave him such a scold- 
ing that he must have forgotten the pain of the scald. 
Then she went, still storming, to Juno, and demanded 
the instant arrest and punishment of Psyche. From 
Juno she went to Jupiter himself, who put Mercury at 


92 


VENUS. 


her service. Mercury received from her a little hook 
in which was written the name and description of 
Psyche, and with this he went about the world, pro- 
claiming that whoever should seize a certain princess of 
that name, an escaped handmaid of Venus, should 
receive seven kisses from the goddess herself for a 
reward. ^ 

^ Knowing nothing of all this. Psyche wandered on 
and on till she saw a temple on the top of a mountain. 
She thought it might be the dwelling of Cupid, so she 
climbed up to it and found it littered with sheaves of 
corn, bound and unbound, scythes, sickles, and such 
things, all lying about in confusion. Shocked at find- 
ing a temple in such a state, she set to work to put 
everything in order. She was in the middle of her 
work, when a beautiful lady appeared before her, 
crowned with a wreath of wheat ears, whom she knew 
to be Ceres, the goddess of harvest. 

“Who are you?” said the goddess graciously, “who 
work so hard to put the fioor of my house in order? ” 

“ Psyche,” said she ; “ and I implore you, great god- 
dess, to grant me shelter for a few days. I will serve 
you faithfully and well.” 

But when the goddess heard the name of Psyche, her 
face changed. “ Willingly would I shelter you,” said 
she. “ But I dare not shelter one whom the wrath of 
Venus is following through earth and air. Begone ! 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


93 


and be thankful that I do not keep you as a prisoner. 
Not even I dare offend Venus. My poor girl ! I am 
sorry for you. But begone ! ” 

Turned away by the kindest of all the goddesses, 
Psyche wandered on and on till she came to another 
temple in a gloomy valley, which proved to be the 
temple of Juno, to whom Psyche, falling on her knees 
before the altar, prayed for succour. But Juno, appear- 
ing to her, said : — 

“Willingly would I help you ; but though I am the 
Queen of Heaven, I must obey the law. V enus claims 
you as her handmaid, and nobody may give protection 
to a fugitive slave. Be thankful that I do not deliver 
you to your mistress. I pity you ; but begone ! ” 

So not even the greatest of all the goddesses could 
help her against the vengeance of Venus. Again she 
wandered on and on, helj)less and despairing, till one 
of the servants of Venus met her and knew her. Seizing 
Psyche by the hair, she dragged her into the presence 
of the terribly beautiful goddess, who broke into a laugh 
of cruel triumph when she found her rival in her power. 
Venus delivered her over to her torturers. Anguish and 
Sorrow. They, having scourged and tormented her, 
brought her again before Venus, who flew at her like a 
fury, as if she would tear her limb from limb. 

“You ugly slave!” said Venus, as soon as she 
recovered breath ; “you want a lover, do you? Well, 


94 


VENUS. 


perhaps you may get one if you know how to drudge ; 
you certainly won’t any other way. I’ll give you a 
trial.” 

So she took wheat, barley, millet, poppy seed, vetches, 
lentils, and beans, mixed them up together, and said: — 

“ Sort out every seed into its proper heap before 
evening. If you can do that, you shall not be scourged 
again.” 

Psyche sat down before her task in silent despair, 
crushed in heart, and aching in every limb. She could 
only pray that death would come to her before nightfall; 
for she could not bear the thought of those cruel 
scourges. And so she sat motionless until a little 
white ant, taking more pity on her than Ceres or Juno, 
called together his whole tribe, who sorted out the 
heap, grain by grain, into proper parcels, in no time, 
and then ran away. 

Judge of the surprise of Venus when she found the 
work done. “ Somebody has helped you ! ” said she. 
But she could not order her to be scourged, the work 
being done ; so she threw her a piece of coarse bread 
for supper, and had her shut up in a wretched shed till 
day. 

In the morning Venus came to her again. “ Do you 
see yonder sheep, with golden fleeces, wandering with- 
out a shepherd? Go and bring me a piece of their 
wool, that you may escape another scourging.” 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


95 


^ Psyche set out, not to get the wool, hut to drown 
herself in the river that ran along the meadow where 
the sheep were feeding. She was about to leap into 
the water, when one of the reeds spoke to her, and 
said, murmuring : — 

“ Pollute not these pure waters by thy death, nor yet 
venture to approach yonder sheep during the heat of 
the sun ; for they are fierce and savage, and they will 
slay thee with their horns. But when they are resting 
towards evening, creep into the meadow, and collect 
the wool that has clung to the bushes.” 

Thus Psyche brought to Venus a whole lapful of 
golden wool. ‘‘ Somebody has helped you ! ” again said 
the goddess, angrily. But she had to keep her word. 

Still she could not bring herself to believe that 
Psyche could have performed these tasks unaided. She 
strongly suspected Cupid, though she kept him closely 
shut up in his chamber, making believe that his scalded 
shoulder still wanted careful nursing, for fear lest he 
might come across Psyche. She was quite sure he had 
never left his chamber for a moment. Nevertheless 
she resolved to send Psyche next time where not Love 
himself could follow or help her. 

“Do you see yonder mountain-peak?” she said to 
her next morning. “From that peak falls a black 
fountain, as cold as ice. Take this urn, fill it with the 
cold black water, and bring it to me.” 


96 


VENUS. 


Psyche started off at once for the mountain-peak, 
meaning to throw herself from it, and so bring her 
miseries to an end. But it was not so easy to reach the 
top as she had hoped. The black fountain fell headlong 
from the middle of a terrible rock into a still more dark 
and terrible ravine, from which fierce and horrible 
dragons stretched up their long necks to guard the 
waters ; and the roar of the water as it fell was this — 
“ Begone, or perish ! ” 

In the midst of her terror, an eagle came flying over- 
head, and called out to her : — 

“Do not touch the water ; this is the spring of the 
Styx, that sacred and dreadful river by whom the gods 
swear. Give me your urn.” 

So, swooping down, he took the urn in his talons, 
and flew with it through the gaping jaws of the dragons 
so swiftly that they had not time to close upon him, or 
to pierce him with their fiery tongues. Thus he reached 
the water, filled the urn, and flew back with it to 
Psyche, who brought it to Venus just as she had been 
bidden. 

Venus was more enraged than ever ; but this time 
she hid her anger with a smile. “ I see there is nothing 
too hard for you,” she said — “ nothing. So do me one 
little service before we make friends. Nobody else 
could do it ; but then one who is clever enough to steal 
the waters of the Styx can do everything. You see I 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


97 


have grown pale and thin with anxiety about iny poor 
boy. Go as quickly as you can to the palace of King 
Pluto, and ask to see the Lady Proserpine. When you 
see her, say to her, ‘ Madam, V enus requests you to 
lend her a little of your beauty till to-morrow morning.’ 
Here is a casket to bring it in ; and be quick with your 
errand.” 

Then indeed did Psyche give herself up for lost. 
For she knew what you have read in the story of the 
Gods and the Giants — that Pluto was the King of 
Hades, that underground world of ghosts and spirits 
where men and women go when they die. And of this 
world of Hades the Lady Proserpine was queen. 

Thinking that the shortest way to the world below 
was the best, she went to the top of a high tower, 
meaning to hurl herself out of life headlong. But the 
tower said : — 

“ Pause ! for know that from the world where you 
are going none ever return. There is only one path 
by which you can reach Pluto’s palace and come back 
again ; and that path I will tell you. Listen carefully 
to all I say. Near to the city of Lacedaemon is a hill 
called Tmnarus. In the hill is hidden a cavern which 
you must find ; and from this cavern a path, which 
no mortal has yet trodden, runs straight into the hill. 
Take the path, but provide yourself first with these 
things : two pieces of barley-bread sopped in honey — 


VENUS. 


one in each hand — and two pieces of money in your 
mouth. If anybody accosts you on the way, pass him 
by in silence. Give nothing to anybody with your 
hand. Show no pity. Help nobody. Taste nothing 
but dry bread, and open not the box you carry ; for 
Venus knows you to be pitiful and helpful, and a 
little inquisitive as well, and will set traps for you 
to fall into. Therefore, be wise, and trust to nothing 
you see in the world of dreams and shadows. If you 
follow my directions, you may go and return in safety ; 
if you fail in the least of them, you are a lost soul.” 

Psyche set off at once to the city of Lacedsemon, 
and, with a honey-sop in each hand and two silver 
coins in her mouth, sought for the cavern in the hill. 
She found it at last, and started along the path, blacker 
than night, which wound downwards into the heart of 
the earth. After she had traveled many hours, the 
path became illuminated with a pale twilight, by which 
she could just manage to see — a strange sort of half- 
light, such as one never sees above ground. It seemed 
to Psyche as if the path would never end. At last she 
saw figures approaching her in the distance ; and these, as 
they approached, proved to be a lame man driving a lame 
ass laden with wood, which was slipping from its cords. 

“Lady,” said the lame man, “you see I am weak 
and helpless ; help me to tie up my wood again so that 
it may not fall.” 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


99 


Psyche was just about to lay down her honey-sops 
and help him, when she remembered the tower’s warn- 
ing, and passed him by without a word. 

On she went until she came to the bank of a broad 
river with water as black as ink ; and just where the 
path ran down to the water was a ferry-boat, in which 
sat a very old man naked to the waist, and holding an 
oar. Psyche stepped into the boat, and the old man, 
in dead silence, pushed off, and began to row heavily 
across the black and sluggish stream. When the boat 
reached the middle, she looked down, and saw a skinny 
hand raise itself slowly out of the water. Then she 
perceived that the hand belonged to a corpse-like form 
floating half under the black ooze, which, in a hollow 
voice, thus besought her : — 

“ Lady, for pity’s sake take me into your boat, that 
I may reach the other side. Else must I float here 
between life and death forever.” 

Psyche was about to bid the ferryman take the poor, 
half-dead creature into the boat, when she remembered 
the tower’s warning against pity, and let the body 
drift by. 

Arrived at the other side, the ferryman held out his 
hand for his fee. Psyche was about to take one of the 
coins from her mouth, when she suddenly remembered 
the tower’s warning to give nothing to anybody with 
her hand. So, bringing oi^e of the coins between her 


100 


VENUS. 


teeth, she dropped it into the open palm of the ferry- 
man, and went her way. 

A little farther on she came upon some old women 
weaving. 

“Lady,” said the eldest, “we are old, and it is dark, 
and our eyes are dim, and we have much to do before 
nightfall. Help us with our web, we pray you.”^ 

Psyche was about to comply, when she remembered 
the tower’s warning against giving help, and passed on. 

Still on and on she went until she reached a huge 
palace built of black marble, which she knew at once 
to be the abode of Pluto and Proserpine. But how was 
she to enter? For on the threshold stood a monstrous 
dog, with three heads and six flaming eyes, barking 
thunderously, and with horrible yawning jaws. This 
was the dog Cerberus, who never sleeps, and guards 
the palace of Pluto night and day. There was only 
one chance of passing him, and Psyche took it. She 
threw him one of her honey-sops, and ran past him 
while he was swallowing it down. 

In the hall beyond the threshold sat Proserpine, 
Queen of Hades, and goddess of the Underworld, 
dark and beautiful, and crowned with white poppies 
and stars, with a two-pronged scepter in her hand. 
She received Psyche kindly, made her sit down on a 
cushion beside her, and bade the attendants bring meat, 
fruit, and wine. Psyche, hungry and thirsty after her 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


101 


long journey, was about to eat, when she remembered 
the tower’s warning, and refreshed herself with a little 
dry bread only. Then rising, she said to Proserpine : — 

“Madam, Venus requests you to lend her a little of 
your beauty till to-morrow morning, and here is a 
casket for me to carry it in.” 

“With pleasure,” said Proserpine, taking the casket, 
opening it, breathing into it, closing it again, and 
returning it to Psyche, who, having performed her 
errand, departed reverently. 

She got past Cerberus by throwing him her other 
sop, and gave the ferryman her other piece of money to 
row her back across the rivei*. And so, without further 
peril or adventure, she reached the cavern in the hill, 
and the sunshine, and the broad light of day, with the 
casketful of beauty safe in her hand. 

Then a great curiosity came upon her to know Avhat 
this beauty of the Underworld might be — beauty so 
great that even Venus desired it to add to her charms. 
At last Psyche’s curiosity grew so strong that she could 
withstand it no longer, and the tower’s last warning 
was forgotten. What harm could a single glimpse do? 
So, first timidly, then more boldly, she raised the lid of 
the casket. And from the casket into which Proserpine 
had breathed there came forth a deep sleep, which fell 
over Psyche, so that first she felt faint, then her blood 
turned dull and cold, and the color left her cheeks, then 


102 


VENUS. 


her heart stopped, and then her breath, — for the Sleep 
of Death had come upon her, and she lay in the sun- 
shine, pale and cold. For Death is the beauty of 
Proserpine. 

Cupid, wearied out of patience by being kept prisoner 
in his chamber on account of a trifling hurt that no 
longer pained him, and loving his lost Psyche as much 
as ever, thought and thought how he might escape from 
the tiresome watclifulness of his mother. And it hap- 
pened at last that the nurse on duty threw open the 
window for a moment to let in a breath of air. That 
moment was enough for Cupid : spreading his wings, 
he was through the window and away before the nurse 
could tell him from a bird. His wings had grown the 
stronger from their long rest, and he reveled in the 
freedom of the sunshine and the open air. Never had 
life felt so full of joy. Ah, if he could only find 
Psyche, not his mother herself should part them any 
more I And surely he would find her, for what cannot 
Love find or do? 

He fled fast to the palace in the secret valley, but 
she was not there. There was scarce a corner of the 
world where he did not fly, in less time than it would 
take the very swiftest of birds. And at last — 

He found her; and his wings lost their strength, and 
his heart melted for sorrow when he saw her stretched 


LOVE AND THE SOUL. 


103 


in the Sleep of Death upon the hillside — beautiful 
still, but with the beauty of Proserpine. The fatal 
casket lay open beside her, so he knew what had 
befallen. “Alas!” he thought, “if I had not flown 
from her in my anger she would not have died.” He 
clasped her in his arms; he kissed her lips Avith enough 
love to Avake the dead, if such a thing could be. 

And such a thing could be — such a thing Avas I For 
at the kiss of Love the Sleep of Death began to sloAvly 
pass aAvay. Back came the color to her lips and cheeks; 
lier heart fluttered and heat ; she breathed ; she oj)ened 
her eyes. And then she Avoke in his arms, glad and 
alive. 

This is the story of Cupid and Psyche, of Avhich 
there is nothing more to tell except that Psyche’s 
troubles had a very happy and glorious ending indeed. 
For Jupiter, to make her a fitting wife for Cupid, 
received her into heaven, and on her arrival gave her 
Avith his own hands a goblet of nectar to drink — the 
Avine of the gods, which makes all Avho taste of it 
immortal. Even Venus became reconciled to her, and 
the Avedding-feast of Cupid and Psyche is one of the 
most famous festivals in the Avhole history of the skies. 

I said a little Avay back that most of these stories 
have some sort of meaning, and people have found more 
meaning in the story of Psyche than in most of them. 


104 


VENUS. 


“ Psyche ” is the Greek for “ soul,” and I have already 
told you that “ Cupid ” means “ love.” So the story 
may show how the soul of man is loved by heaven ; but 
how it has to pass through many sufferings and trials, 
and at last through death, before it reaches immortal 
happiness. 

“ Psyche ” also means “ butterfly,” and Psyche her- 
self, after she was received into heaven, always appears 
in pictures with a butterfly’s wings. It seems curious 
at first that the same word means “ soul ” and “ butter- 
fly ” ; but it is not so curious when one thinks a little 
of the story. Just as the caterpillar that crawls on the 
earth seems to die when it becomes a chrysalis and then 
rises again as a winged butterfly, so man, bound down 
to earth like a caterpillar, seems to die, and then lives 
again, only changed. 

In some very old pictures you may see a butterfly 
flying out from between a man’s lips. That means that 
he is dying, and that his “ Psyche,” his “ soul ” or 
“ butterfly,” is leaving him. 


MERCUEY AND lEIS. 


^XERY often, in these stories, you have met with 

^ Mercury, and have heard that he was Jupiter’s 
chief messenger. The office he held made him so busy 
with all the affairs of heaven, earth, and Hades, that 
there is scarcely a story without Mercury in it ; and it 
is therefore time to know something more about him. 

Now you must know that the people who, ages ago, 
made these stories about the gods and goddesses in 
whom they believed, thought that the earth (which you 
know to be a globe) was a large island surrounded by a 
boundless ocean. The sky — so they imagined — was 
a solid dome, on which the sun, moon, and stars made 
their various journeys. Every morning Phoebus drove 
the chariot of the Sun forth, from the stable beyond the 
ocean in the east, across the blue dome, till it sank 
beyond the western ocean, and then passed underground 
back to the eastern stable, so as to be ready to start 
again. / The Moon, that is to say, the chariot of Diana, 
also had her proper course across the dome, and so had 
every planet and star. And this dome, or sky, with all 


106 


MERCURY AND IRIS. 


its wonders, was supported on the shoulders of Atlas, a 
gigantic Titan, condemned to this task (some say) for 
having helped the giants in their war against the gods. 

This Atlas was a great king, and his kingdom 
stretched westward till it .touched the ocean which 
surrounds the earth. And that is why this part of the 
sea is called the Ocean of Atlas, or Atlantic Ocean. 
The name of his kingdom was Mauritania, now called 
Morocco, where he owned a thousand flocks, and 
orchards with apples of gold. And he had seven 
beautiful daughters, whose names were Alcyone, Aste- 
r5pe, Celseno, Electra, Maia, Merope, and Taygeta. Six 
of these married gods ; Mgrope alone married a mortal. 
After their death they Avere honored hy being set as 
stars in the sky, where you may often see the seven 
sisters clustered together in a beautiful constellation 
called the Pleiades. But it is very difficult to see 
Merope, because she married a mortal instead of a^od, 
and therefore shines dimly. If you can see more than 
six of the seven sisters you have good eyes. 

Of all the Pleiades M^ia is the brightest, for she was, 
chosen by Jupiter. She had a son named Mercury, and 
a promising child he must have been. For on the very 
day he was born he stole the oxen of King Admetus of 
Thessaly, although (as you may remember) Apollo him- 
self was then the king’s herdsman. , 'And Mercury not 
only stole the oxen, but ran away with Apollo’s quiver 


MERCURY AND IRIS. 


107 


of arrows^Proud of this feat, he stole the zone of 
Venus, tne sword of Mars, and the hammer of Vulcan ; 
and at last he carried off the very scepter of Jupiter. 
Instead of punishing him, however, Jupiter was so 
delighted with his cleverness and impudence that he 
made Mercury his chief messenger and cup-bearer. He 
also gave him a winged cap, wings for his heels, a short 
sword, and a scepter called caduceus — a rod round 
which two living serpents coiled. The winged cap was 
called petdsus^ and whenever he put it on he became 
invisible; the wings for his heels were called talaria^ 
and made him able to fly faster than lightning to any 
place he pleased. The caduceus was a magic wand. It 
first belonged to Apollo, who used to drive the flocks 
of King Admetus with it. But when Mercury invented 
the lyre, he gave the lyre to Apollo in exchange for the 
caduceus. The lyre became Apollo’s favorite instru- 
ment, and Mercury used the caduceus to drive the flocks 
of dead souls to Hades, for that was one of his duties. 
He could also send people to sleep with it, and could 
bring back the dead to life by touching them with its 
point. You will always know a picture or statue of 
Mercury from his caduceus., and from the wings on his 
cap and heels. 

He needed to be quick, active, and clever, for he had 
a great deal to do — so much that Jupiter relieved him 
of the office of cup-bearer and gave it to a young 


108 


MERCUKY AND IRIS. 


Phrygian shepherd, named Ganymede. This is what 
Mercury had to do. He had to carry all Jupiter’s mes- 
sages, which, of course, obliged him to be almost every- 
where at once ; he had to see that the laws of the great 
council of the gods wete properly carried out ; to keep 
Jupiter’s secrets ; to know everything that was going 
on all over the world ; to conduct the souls of the dead 
to Hades — each one of which things was enough, one 
would think, to take up his whole time. However, he 
managed to do it all, and a great deal more, and was 
not very particular how. For it must be owned that 
Mercury, though a god, was not above lying and cheat- 
ing whenever it suited his purpose. Pie was wonder- 
fully eloquent, and could make anybody believe any- 
thing. And he was the patron, that is to say, the 
friend and protector, of merchants, travelers, orators, 
and thieves. 

Juno also had a chief messenger — a goddess named 
Iris. The path of Iris from heaven to earth and back 
again is the rainbow ; so whenever , you see a rainbow 
you may knoAV that Iris is bringing a message down 
from Juno. Indeed “ Iris ” means “ Rainbow.” 

I ought to tell you that the planet nearest to the sun 
is called Mercury, and that Mercury is another name 
for the metal quicksilver. 


JSTEPTUlsrE. 


jXF you look back at the second of these stories — 
' that of Jupiter and Juno — you will read that 
“when Jupiter became god and king of the whole 
world, he made his two brothers, Neptune and Pluto, 
kings under him. He made Neptune god and king of 
the sea : Pluto he made god and king of Hades.” You 
will read the story of Pluto presently. This is about 
Neptune, of whom there is much less to say. You 
have already read, in the story of Minerva, how Nep- 
tune contended with the goddess of A^isdom for the 
honor of naming the capital of Attica, and how he pro- 
duced the first horse by striking the earth with his 
trident — that is to say, with his scepter in the shape of 
a fork with three prongs, by which lie may always be 
known. You will remember that the honor was given 
to Minerva, because she produced the olive, the emblem 
of peace, and therefore better for mankind than the 
horse, the emblem of war. This decision, however, did 
not satisfy Neptune. So when the people of Argolis 
also built a capital city, he disputed with Minerva for 
the honor of naming that. Jupiter, however, settled 


110 


NEPTUNE. 


the matter by giving it a name which had nothing to 
do with either god or goddess — that is to say, Troezene 
— and by making Minerva its patroness and Neptune 
its patron. But this did not please Neptune either. 
He Avanted to have some city or piece of dry land all to 
himself, whicli was natural enough for a god who had 
nothing of his own but the sea. So he Avent to laAV 
Avith Apollo for the possession of the isthmus of Comith. 
The case Avas tried before Briareus, the Cyclops Avith 
fifty heads and a hundred hand^ as judge. ^Briareus 
decided that Neptune should have the isthmus, ' all 
except a certain headland, which was given to Apollo. 

But Neptune Avas not even yet satisfied. What Avas 
the sea and one little isthmus Avhen Jupiter had all 
earth and air and sky, and when Pluto had the still 
greater world beloAv? Then Jupiter ruled over the 
immortal gods and living men and Avomen, and Pluto 
over all the dead ; but Neptune had neither gods nor 
men, dead or alive, for subjects — only fishes and sea- 
monsters, creatures really not Avorth the ruling. It is 
true he had all sorts of treasures got from shipwrecks ; 
but what is the good of gold and jewels at the bottom 
of the sea ? And he had many wonderful and beautiful 
things belonging to him by nature — pearls, and sea- 
Aveed, and coral, and amber ; but he had no use for them. 
At any rate he Avas thoroughly discontented, and tliought 
Jupiter’s division of tlie universe exceedingly unfair. 


NEPTUNE. 


Ill 


It SO happened that, while he was in this envious 
state of mind, Juno was furious against Jupiter for 
throwing Y ulcan out of heaven, and Apollo was seeking 
revenge for the death of ^sculapius. So these three 
— Neptune, Juno, and Apollo — made a conspiracy 
against Jupiter. Their plot was to excite all the gods 
and goddesses to rebel against their king, to take him 
by surprise, to imprison him forever, and to get — I do 
not know what they meant to get by it ; most likely, 
like Jfll rebels, they did not know that themselves. 
However, in one way and another, by promises, and by 
working up all sorts of grievances, they drew nearly 
every god and goddess into their treason, of which 
Jupiter, in his trust of them all, had not the faintest 
suspicion. He went on ruling and feasting, little 
guessing that his own wife, his own brother, and the 
whole of his court, were secret traitors. Even Minerva, 
in spite of her wisdom and her old quarrel with Nep- 
tune, is said to have joined in the plot against her own 
father, though this is hard to believe. 

The plotters made only one mistake — they forgot 
that traitors must expect treachery. There was a cer- 
tain sea-nymph named Thetis, married to a mortal, and 
she, having been admitted into the plot, tried to think 
of some way of saving the king of gods and men. But 
what could one sea-nymph do ? If she went and told 
Jupiter, he would not believe her; he would most likely 


112 


NEPTUNE. 


only* punish her for lying and slander. So, in her 
trouble, she went for advice to the giant Briareus, who 
had fifty heads to think with instead of only one. 
Having thought with them all, one after another, he 
said at last, “ Leave it to me.” 

At length the time came for carrying out the plot. 
The conspirators held a great meeting, and, having 
talked themselves into a great state of rage against 
Jupiter, marched in a body into the council chamber of 
Olympus, where they expected to find him at that time 
of day sleeping upon his throne, and at their mercy. 
And so indeed they did find him. But, to their dismay, 
there sat beside him a monstrous and terrible giant, 
with a hundred huge hands and fifty yawning mouths, 
and a hundred eyes wide awake and rolling. And so 
terrified were they by the unexpected sight, that they 
stood rooted to the spot by fear ; and when Jupiter 
woke up and saw how matters were, they could only 
confess their treason and pray for pardon. • 

Thus Jupiter learned the lesson that a king must not 
venture to go to sleep, even on his throne, unless he is 
guarded by at least a hundred faithful hands, fifty 
shrewd brains, and a hundred vigilant eyes, which can- 
not happen often, since a Briareus is not to be found 
every day. But Jupiter thought that the plotters, or 
at least their ringleaders, deserved a lesson also. He 
thought it better to hush up the conspiracy, and not to 


NEPTUNE. 


113 


make another s cand al, by punishing Juno. But he 
ba: ^ishe d Apollo from Olympus for nine years as a 
punishment for having killed the Cyclopes, as you have 
read in the story of Marsyas ; and he condemned Nep- 
tune, by way of hard labor, to build the walls of the 
famous city of Troy. And so the great Olympian con- 
spiracy came to an end, and Jupiter remained more 
powerful than ever. 

Neptune is chiefly known by' his trident or three- 
pronged scepter, by means of which he causes earth- 
quakes, and can bring up islands from the bottom of 
the sea. He had a great many sea-gods and sea-god- 
desses under him, his queen-consort being Amphi trite. 
There were Oceanus and Tethys, the father and mother 
of all ^ the Rivers ; Triton, a strange god, in shape half 
man and half fish, who makes storms and calms by 
blowing a shell as if it were a horn ; Proteus, wlio iore- 
tells the future to anybody who can find him on the 
sea-shore, catch him, and chain him up so that he can- 
not change his shape and escape into the sea ; Nereus, 
with his long blue hair and beard. There ivere also the 
Nereids, his fifty daughters, among whom was Thetis ; 
the Oceanides or sea-nymphs ; and the Sirens — mer- 
maids who drew sailors to their island by their wonder- 
ful singing, and then fell upon them and devoured 
them. There were the Harpies also : three horrible 


114 


NEPTUNE. 


monsters, each with a woman’s face, a vulture’s body, 
and feet and hands having sharp claws for toes and 
fingers — these were the whirlwinds. But it is impos- 
sible to make a list of the wonders of the sea. 




HADES. 


PART I. — THE Kma AND QUEEN OE THE 


DEAD, 


“ Not far from Enna’s walls there lies a lake, 

Fergus by name : than which not Cayster’s stream 
Is fuller of the songs of gliding swans. 

A woodland girds it with a veil of leaves 
To shelter from the heat ; where the fresh soil 
Bears purple flowers, and keeps perpetual spring.” 

O the poet Ovid describes the pleasant place where 



the nymph Proserpine, the beautiful daughter of 
Ceres, goddess of the fruits of the earth, was one day 
with her companions, gathering violets and lilies. All 
were trying who should gather the most, and were very 
happy and merry. In her search for flowers, Proserpine 
wandered out of sight of her companions, who went on 
gathering and singing and laughing : till suddenly 
their merriment was stopped by a piercing scream for 
help ; and then by another and another ; till the cries 
grew fainter and fainter, and were at last heard no more. 


116 


HADES. 


Where was Proserpine ? They were sure it was her 
cries they had heard : and, though they searched 
through the whole wood, they could not find her any- 
where. All they could do was to go to Ceres, and tell 
her that her daughter had disappeared, and could not 
be found for all their seeking. 

Ceres, who is the best and kindest of all the god- 
desses, loved her daugliter dearly, and was disconsolate 
at the news. Though always so busy with seed-time 
and harvest, fields and orchards, she set out to seek for 
her lost Proserpine ; or at least to find out what had 
become of her. “ Mother ! ” had been Proserpine’s last 
cry. Ceres wandered, in her search, over the whole 
world, — nay, she explored the very depths of the sea, 
— but all in vain. She questioned gods, goddesses, 
nymphs, fauns, and satyrs, men and women ; but none 
could give her any news Df Proserpine. She never 
slept, but set fire to the pine-trees on the top of Mount 
A^tna to serve as torches, so that she might see to 
search by night as well as by day. She forgot to eat 
and drink, and, though the goddess of Corn and Plenty, 
she would have perished of hunger and thirst had not 
an old woman named Baubo, though ignorant who she 
was, taken pity on her, and given her some hot porridge, 
which Ceres drank eagerly — so eagerly that a boy who 
saw her drinking jeered at her for a glutton. This was 
too much for the goddess, in her despair, to bear. She 


THE KING AND QUEEN OF THE DEAD. 117 


for once lost her temper, and threw the rest of the hot 
porridge over the grinning boy, whom it turned into a 
spotted lizard for laughing at a stranger’s needs and an 
old woman’s chanty. 

At length, worn out and desperate, the poor mother 
wandered back to Sicily, so changed that nobody knew 
her. Nor could she say who she was, for grief had 
made her dumb. In this state she arrived at a place 
called Cyane, near to where Proserpine had been lost. 
And here one day, while looking at a pool (for she 
never ceased to look everywhere) she saw her daughter’s 
girdle lying at the bottom of the water. Then, giving 
up her last spark of hope, she found her voice again, 
and mourned aloud. Her grief was terrible to hear 
and see. She cursed the earth, so that it no longer 
brought forth corn : she broke the ploughs : the seeds 
perished in the fields, and the cattle in their stalls. 

But one day Ceres, roaming along the banks of the 
river Alpheus, plainly heard its waters say : — 

“We have seen Proserpine! She is unhappy; but 
she is a great queen : she is the wife of Pluto, the King 
of^the Underworld.” 



Ceres knew that Proserpine had been carried 


off by the great and dreadful god Pluto, to whom, when 
Jupiter divided the world, had been given Hades — 
the underground kingdom of ghosts and of the souls 
of the dead : the greatest kingdom of all. It was true : 


118 


HADES. 


— Pluto had seen Proserpine while she was gathering 
flowers in the wood, had snatched her up into his 
chariot with black horses, and, in spite of her struggles 
and cries for help, had driven off with her to his under- 
ground palace through a cavern which he opened with 
a touch of his two-pronged scepter : the cavern then 
filled up with water, and became the lake of C^^ane, at 
the bottom of which Ceres had found the girdle. As 
soon as she could recover her senses, Ceres flew up to 
heaven, threw herself before Jupiter, and passionately 
demanded that her daughter should be given back to 
her. 

It was a difficult question for Jupiter to settle. He 
pitied Ceres with all his heart, and wished to help her. 
But high reasons of state made him unwilling to offend 
Pluto : and then, who had ever heard of anybody com- 
ing back from Hades ? That would be against all the 
laws of gods and men. 

But there were tliree mysterious beings, of whom I 
have not yet told you, called the Fates — three sisters 
who rule over life and death, and whose will even the 
gods of heaven, even Jupiter himself, must obey. Some- 
where or other they sit and spin with their distaffs the 
histories of nations and the lives and deaths of men. 
Nothing can happen without their leave ; and nobody 
can prevent from coming to pass whatever the Fates 
decree. So Jupiter inquired of the Fates if it was their 


N 

THE KING AND QUEEN OF THE DEAD. 119 


will that Proserpine should return from the kingdom 
of the grave. 

‘‘ She may return,” said they. “ But not if she has 
eaten or drunk in the kingdom of Pluto. If she has. ^ ' 
tasted the food of death, then she may not return.^ 

When Pluto received this message he was greatly 
troubled ; for, though he had carried off Proserpine in 
that cruel way, he very deeply loved her, and hoped 
that, if he could keep her with him, he should at last 
conquer her sorrow and get her to love him in return. 

He had made her his wife and queen, and could not 
bear the thought of losing her. He anxiously inquired 
of every ghost and spirit in Hades if Queen Proserpine 
had tasted food, if ever so little ; -but not one had seen 
her touch even bread or watef since she had been 
brought below. It was Pluto’s turn to lose Proserpine. 
Ceres was already rejoicing in the thought of seeing 
her long-lost daughter. Proserpine was just about to 
return to earth, when there stepped forth one of Pluto’s 
courtiers, named Asculaphus, and accused Proserpine 
of having tasted the juice of seven pomegranate seeds. 
And the Fates knew that it was true. 

And Proserpine also knew it, and cried aloud for 
sorrow that she should never see her mother again ; 
and her cry turned the treacherous, tale-bearing Ascu- 
laphus into a hooting owl. But this did not undo the 


120 


HADES. 


work of those seven fatal pomegranate seeds. Even 
the Fates were filled with pity; even the heart of 
Pluto was touched by the mother’s and the daughter’s 
despair. The Fates could not change their decree. 
But it was settled that, though Proserpine must con- 
tinue to be the wife of Pluto and the Queen of Hades, 
she should be allowed to spend six months out of every 
year on earth with Ceres. And that is the reason of 
summer and winter. It is summer when Ceres is happy 
with her daughter, and makes the earth rejoice with 
flowers and fruit and corn. It is winter when she is 
left alone, and Proserpine goes back to Pluto until 
next spring. Proserpine is the beauty and joy of the 
earth, which seems to die in winter, but only to come 
to life again. And she is the beauty of death besides. 
You will remember what you read in the story of 
Psyche about the beauty of Proserpine. 

It was Ceres who taught men to plow, harrow, sow, 
and reap ; and they were very grateful to her every- 
where. The worship of Ceres, under many names, was 
the chief part of the religion of ancient times. You 
will know her, from pictures and statues, as a noble 
and stately goddess, crowned with a garland of corn, 
holding a lighted torch, sometimes standing in a chariot 
drawn by flying dragons. I have said she had many 
names, one of the most famous being Demeter, which 


THE KING AND QUEEN OF THE DEAD. 121 


means “Mother Earth”; and “Bona Dea,” that is to 
say, “ the Good Goddess,” was another. 

Proserpine, as Queen of Hades, became a very strange 
and mysterious goddess indeed. One of her names is 
Hecate, and under that name she rules over magic. 
She often wears a veil, and a crown of stars ; and, like 
Pluto, carries the scepter with two prongs, differing 
from Neptune’s trident, which has three. 

Pluto was a dark and gloomy god. No temples were 
ever built to him, and only black animals were sacri- 
ficed upon his altars. But he was just, although piti- 
less and stern. He sits upon a throne of sulphur in 
his underground palace, from which fiow the four rivers 
of Hades — Cocytus, the river of Lamentation; Acheron, 
the river of Sorrow ; Lethe, the river of Forgetfulness ; 
and Phlegethon, the river of Fire. ' On his left hand 
sits Proserpine, near to whom stand the Furies, three 
fiends with snakes instead of hair ; on his right stand 
the Fates spinning ; at his feet lies the three-headed 
dog, Cerberus ; and the Harpies hover over him, wait- 
ing for orders. 

On the whole, it is not strange that Proserpine should 
be glad when the time for her six months’ visit to her 
mother comes round. 

‘ M. ■ , 


PART II. -THE KINGDOM. 


ADES,” the name of the kingdom of Pluto and 



Proserpine, means “invisible,” because it is 


unseen by living eyes. It is surrounded by the river 
Styx by which the gods swore their sacred oath, and 
which flows round and round it in nine circles before 
springing up into the living world. Even when the 
Styx rises out of the groi;ind in the land of Arcadia, 
it still remains a cold black river, whose waters are 
poisonous to drink ; but if anybody was bold enough 
to bathe in them, and lucky enough to come out alive, 
no weapon afterwards would have power to wound him. 
Some people say that Thetis (the goddess who saved 
Jupiter from the great plot) dipped her child Achilles 
into the Styx as soon as he was born, head foremost, 
holding him by the left heel between her finger and 
thumb. But she forgot that her thumb and finger pre- 
vented the water from touching the skin just where 
she held him. And so, when he grew up, though no 
weapon could hurt him anywhere else, yet, when he 
was hit by an arrow in the left heel, he died of the 
wound. 


THE KINGDOM. 


123 


When anybody died, his body was buried or burned 
by bis friends, and bis soul left him and went down to 
Hades, till it reached the banks of the Styx. Here it 
waited for Charon’s ferry-boat, about which you read in 
the story of Psyche. If its friends had buried its body 
properly, they had given it a small silver coin to pay 
the ferryman, who took the money and at once rowed 
it across the river. But if the soul had no money to 
pay for its passage, it had to wait for a hundred years, 
shivering and cold. Arrived on the other side, the soul 
was taken before the three judges of Hades — Minos, 
Abacus, and Rhadamanthus. All three had been kings 
on earth, so famous for wisdom and justice that, when 
they died, Pluto made them the judges of the dead. 
These decided what was to be done with the soul. If 
it had been virtuous during its life upon earth, it was 
allowed to enter Elysj iim, or the region of happiness ; 
if it had been wicked, it was condemned to the horrible 
prison of TarttoiS) there to be punished by torture. 

El ysium , which is also called “ the Elysian fields,” 
or “the Islands of the Blest,” was a very delightful 
place, like the most beautiful country in the finest 
weather, never too hot or too cold, and full of sweet 
scents a^ sounds. There the souls of the happy 
enjoyed forever, without ever getting tired, whatever 
had given them the most pleasure upon earth — hunt- 
ing, or war, or learning, or music, or whatever it might 


124 


HADES. 


be : only all tlieir pleasures became innocent and noble, 
and even if t Ijey fought, it was all in friendship and 
without harm.. Nothing was quite real there : it was 
more like a beautiful and happy dream, lasting forever. 
Some of tin* very best and greatest human souls were 
taken up into Olympus and made “ Demi-gods,” that is 
to say “ Half-gods but of course this was a very rare 
honor. The dream of Elysium was tliought to be 
reward enough for the souls which, in their lives, had 
doi^Mnore good than evil. 

Tartarus, the place of torment, was a very different 
j)lace, as I need not say. It was farther beloAV the 
earth than the earth is below the sky, and was sur- 
rounded by three brazen walls, and by Phlegethon, the 
river of Fire. Tlie only entrance was through a higli 
tower, with gates which not even the gods could open, 
and guarded by the three-headed dog Cerberus, which 
never slept ; and the air was three times darker than 
the darkest midnight, lighted only by the terrible flames 
of Phlegethon. The jailers were Nemesis and the 
Furies. Nemesis is the great stern power who never 
allows the guilty to escape from their just punishment, 
nor the good to lose their just reward. If people are 
happier or more fortunate than they deserve to be, she 
always, either in this life or in Hades, gives them 
enough misery at last, until they are just as happy or 
unhappy as they deserve to be, and neither less nor 


THE KINGDOM. 


125 


more ; and if they seem less happy or less fortunate 
than they deserve, she makes it up to tliem in the end. 
She is often so strangely slow in coming, that she has 
been called lame. But she always comes at last : if 
’ i slow, she is sure^, " 



Ji^^here was once a king of the island of Samos, named 
Polycrates, who was famous for his marvelous good 
fortune. Nothing ever went wrong with him ; he did 
not seem able to fail in anything, even if he tried ; he 
knew neither misfortune nor sorrow. Tliough only the 
prince of a little island, he became, by one stroke of 
good luck after another, the most powerful monarch of 
his time, so that the kings of the greatest nations came 
to his court to do him homage and admire his glory. 
Among these was Amasis, King of Egypt, who was 
frightened at the sight of such prosperity, and thought. 
This is surely more than any mortal deserves — 
Nemesis must surel}^ be near at hand ! ” So he advised 
Polycrates to bring some misfortune upon himself, to 
keep Nemesis away. At first Polycrates laughed at 
such counsel ; but, to remove the friendly fears of 
Amasis, he threw into the sea a ring with a magnificent 
seal, which he prized the most of all his jewels, and the 
loss of which made him really unhappy — so you may 
guess how little unhappiness he had ever known before. 
A few days afterwards, however, while at dinner with 
Amasis, he happened to cut open a large fish ; and 


126 


HADES. 


behold, inside the fish he found the ring, which thus 
came back to him from the bottom of the sea. Instantly 
Amasis rose from the table and hurried back to Egypt, 
exclaiming, “ I dare not have anything more to do with 
so fortunate a man — Nemesis must be at the door!” 
And he was right ; and when she came, she came 
indeed Iv^r^m the hour when the ring was found in 
the fisn, all the prosperity of Polycrates departed from 
him ; he sank lower and lower ; until at last he was 
treacherously captured by the governor of one of his 
own cities, and put to a shameful death by torture. 
You will often hear people speak of “the Ring of 
Polycrates.” When they do, they mean (or ought to 
mean) that a life of mixed joy and sorrow, such as most 
of us have, is what most of us deserve ; and that this is 
the happiest as well as the best for us in the long-run. 
It is not good for us to know nothing of sorrow or pain. 
And if we ever feel that we suffer unjustly — well, 
Nemesis, the slow but the sure, will make it up to us 
in the end. 

However, I must go back to Tartarus, in spite of its 
unpleasantness. I was speaking of the Furies, who 
served under Nemesis as its jailers. These were three 
creatures like women, with hissing and writhing snakes 
instead of hair, holding a torch in one hand, and a whip 
made of live scorpions in the other. These whips were 
the whips of Qomcience^ with which they scourged and 


THE KINGDOM. 


127 


stung the souls both of the dead and the living. They 
were the chief servants of ^Jemesis, because the stings 
of Conscience are the most terrible of all her punish- 
ments. The Furies were the most dreadful creatures 
in or out of Hades. People had such awe and horror 
of them that they dared not even name them. The 
real name of the Furies was the “Erinnyes,” which 
means the desperate madness of those whom the gods 
or fates have cursed. But people who wanted to speak 
of them always called them the “ Eumemdes ” — that 
is to say, “ the Gracious Ladies ” — just as timid people 
in England used to say “ the Good Folk ” instead of 
“ the Fairies,” for fear of making them angry by nam- 
ing their real name. 

^ 'the tortures of Tartarus were of all sorts and kinds. 
Among the evil souls which suffered there, the most 
famous were the three wicked kings, Ixion, Sisyphus, 
and Tantalus. Ixion was tied by his arms and legs to 
the spokes of a wheel, which whirled round and round 
at full speed without ever giving him one moment’s 
rest. Sisyphus had to carry up to the top of a high and 
steep hill a huge stone, which, as soon as he got it up, 
instantly rolled to the bottom again, so that his labor 
had no end. The torment of Tantalus was perhaps 
the worst of all. Maddened with hunger and thirst, 
he was chained to a rock in such a manner that he 
could not seize one of the delicious fruits that hung 


128 


HADES. 


close to his eyes, or one of the cups of cool and fragrant 
drink which unseen hands put to his lips, and then, 
just as he was about to taste, snatched away again. 
Being “ tantalized ” means being treated like Tantalus. 
Then there were the Danaides, or the forty-nine daugh- 
ters of King Dananus, who had all murdered their 
husbands, and were condemned to fill sieves with water, 
which of course ran out through the holes as soon as 
they poured it in. There had been fifty Danaides ; 
but the fiftieth had taken no part in her sisters’ crime. 
There was also the wicked giant Tityus, who was so 
huge that his body covered nine acres of ground, and 
whose punishment was, to be perpetually devoured by 
vultures. 

Souls not good enough for Elysium, but not bad 
enough for Tartarus, were treated in another way. 
Some were sent to wander about the world as Lernures, 
or homeless ghosts ; others were given to drink of the 
waters of the Lethe, the river of Forgetfulness, which 
threw them into a dreamless sleep forever. 


PART III. — ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE. 


"TTPON the heights of Mount Helicon, by the spring 
of water called Hippocrene, and upon the peak 
of Parnassus, whence flows forth the fountain of Cas- 
talia, dwelt the Muses — ^the nine gracious goddesses 
whose gifts to men are music, poetry, painting, elo- 
quence, and all the pleasures of the mind. The Muse 
who had the sweetest voice was named Calliope ; and 
she had a son named Orj^heus, who grew up to be the 
most wonderful musician that ever was known. When 
he sang and played, it was as if his mother’s voice were 
singing to Apollo’s lyre, so that he charmed gods as 
well as men. 

But though he thus charmed all, he cared for 
nothing in the whole world hut his art, until he met 
with a girl named Eurydice, with whom he fell passion- 
ately in love, and who loved him with her whole heart 
in return. They married, and for a long time were 
perfectly happy. But one unlucky day Eurydice, 
while running through some long grass, was stung by 
a poisonous snake in the foot ; and she died. 


To Orpheus it was like losing his own soul ; and it 
was indeed bitterly cruel to have lost Eurydice in the 
midst of their happiness together. Nothing could 
comfort him. He could only wander out among the 
hills and streams with his lyre, lamenting Eurydice, 
and imploring her to come back to him, in such heart- 
broken passionate music that the very rivers and 
mountains and winds seemed to find a voice, and to 
join with him in his ceaseless prayer of “ Eurydice ! 
come back to me, even from the grave.” And so for 
days and nights he wandered, singing the same song to 
his lyre, with all his heart and soul, till it seemed im- 
possible that Death itself should be deaf to such a 
prayer. 

At last a very strange thing befell. So desperately 
sweet did his music grow that the earth could bear it 
no longer, but opened ; so that he saw before him the 
black waters of the Styx, and Charon’s boat filled with 
its freight of souls. His wonderful music, made more 
wonderful still by love and sorrow, had opened to him 
the very gate of Hades, where Eurydice had gone. 
Hope rose in his heart. Still playing, he stepped into 
the boat and crossed the Styx, none hindering him, or 
even asking him for his fee. Minos, iEacus, and 
Rhadamanthus, the three stern judges of the dead, let 
him pass unquestioned — even they forgot their duty 
in the music of his voice and lyre. As he played and 


OUPHEUS AND EURYDICE. 


131 


sang there floated round him, drawn by his music, 
thousands of souls like flocks of birds. The sound 
of his lyre reached into Tartarus itself. Cerberus 
crouched harmless ; the Furies felt a thrill of pity ; for 
one whole instant Tantalus forgot his thirst, the wheel 
of Ixion ceased whirling, and the stone of Sisyphus 
stopped rolling down-hill. 

Thus Orpheus played his way into the very presence 
of Pluto and Proserpine. Pluto pitied him ; but it 
was Proserpine who, no doubt remembering her own 
mother’s sorrows and wanderings, thought of a way to 
help him. 

“ You may have back your wife,” said she ; “but on 
one condition. You have conquered Death ; but that 
is not enough. You must conquer even Love, for her 
sake. Go back to earth, playing and singing as you 
came, and Eurydice shall follow behind you. But if, 
until you pass the gate of Hades, you turn your head 
to look at her ; if you give even a single glance behind 
you to see if she is there, then you shall never see her 
again.” 

You may think that Eurydice might have been given 
to him back without any conditions. But Hades was 
ruled by strict laws, which not even the king and 
queen could break ; and nobody could be allowed to 
conquer death without showing that he could conquer 
temptation. Orpheus was overjoyed. Singing a hymn 


132 


HADES. 


of thanks, he went hack the way he came ; and pres- 
ently he could hear a faint sound behind him, as if the 
whisper of a footfall were keeping pace with him. W as 
it indeed Eurydice? He longed to look round and 
see ; but he remembered Proserpine’s condition, and he 
did not let his eyes wander from the chink of daylight 
which presently began to gleam before him. As he 
came nearer and nearer to the upper world of light, 
and life, and day, the footfall behind him grew more 
and more distinct, until he knew it to be Eurydice’s : 
it was as if a silent phantom were gradually putting on 
its body again as it followed him. If he could but 
once look round — not to look was almost more than 
he could bear. But he might listen ; and now he 
heard her breathe, deeply and gladly, as the breath of 
life came back to her. His music was indeed bringing 
her back from the grave ! 

At last he saw, full in sight, the sunlit hills of the 
upper world. Forgetting that the gate of Hades had 
not yet been passed, he, in his impatience, turned 
round to clasp Eurydice to his heart — only to see her 
change back again into a pale, cold ghost, which, with 
a wail of love and sorrow, faded away forever. 

So Orpheus came back again from Hades heart- 
broken and alone. Once more, doubly hopeless, and 
hating himself for his own weakness, he wandered 
among the mountains and forests with his lyre. But 


OEPHEUS AND EURYDICE. 


133 


while he was broken-hearted, his music became more 
wonderful than ever ; for had he not seen with his 
eyes all the marvels of the under- world? Lions and 
tigers followed him as he sang, and became as gentle 
as lambs. The strongest oaks bent down to listen — 
nay, even the very mountains bowed their heads, and 
the swiftest rivers stood still to hear. He sang of Love 
and Death and Sorrow, and of all the mysteries of the 
world above, and of the world below, so that men 
looked upon him as a prophet, and came to him to 
learn wisdom. 

But his own heart remained broken and dead within 
him. He had no more love left to give to any human 
being. The noblest and fairest women in the land 
sought to win his love, but he was deaf and blind to 
them all. So their love turned to hate ; and at last a 
number of them, enraged by his coldness, fell upon 
him and slew him, and threw his head into the river 
Hebrus. And, as his head floated away, the dead lips 
were heard to murmur : — 

“ Eurydice ! Eurydice ! ” 


PART IV. — THE MAH WHO NEVER DIED. 


riAHERE was just one mortal who kept clear of 
Hades altogether. But whether he was really 
lucky in that or not, I must leave you to settle when 
you have heard his story. 

If you have ever seen the sun rise, you have seen 
the wings of Aurora. Aurora is the dawn ; and as she 
opens her wings you see all their colors — first pale- 
grey ; then a delicate amber, which deepens into 
saffron ; then the tint of a pink-rose, which grows 
fuller and fuller till it becomes crimson and purple, 
which turns to gold when the chariot of the Sun 
appears. It is she who throws open the gates of the 
sky for Phoebus Apollo to start upon his daily journey, 
just as it is Thetis who shuts them, and brings the 
twilight, when his journey is done. 

Aurora is always glad and beautiful and young ; 
always full of hope, because she closes her splendid 
wings and goes to sleep before the troubles of the day 
begin ; and her only work is to feed the flowers with 
dew. But once upon a time she fell in love with a 


THE MAN WHO NEVER DIED. 


135 


mortal named Titlionus ; and she promised to grant 
him whatever boon he most desired. 

I suppose almost everybody has tried to think of 
what he would wish for if a goddess or fairy gave him 
such a chance. Tithonus thought hard for a minute, 
and then said : — 

“Great and beautiful goddess, my wish is that I 
may never die, so that I may see you every morning 
forever.” 

Now of course it was against all the laws of Hades 
that a mortal should never die — unless, of course, he 
was allowed to taste the Ambrosia, the food of the 
gods, which was very seldom allowed. How Aurora 
managed it, I cannot tell, because I have never been 
told. But she kept her word somehow, and Tithonus 
got leave to live forever. 

And so long as he was young and strong, and could 
get up early in the morning to look at the color of 
Aurora’s wings, that was all very well. It did just as 
well as if he were to die in time, like other men. But 
it happened at last that, while Aurora remained as 
young as ever, Tithonus began to get old. The 
promise of endless life did not prevent him from grow- 
ing bald, and toothless, and liable to catch cold if he 
went out into the keen morning air. By the time that 
he was a hundred years old, he became tired of getting 
up to see the sun rise day after day. At two hundred 


136 


HADES. 


he felt like a bundle of aches and pains, and he liked 
a doze in the sun better than a thousand Auroras. At 
three hundred he became tired of living, and wanted 
to be able to creep into some quiet corner of Hades, 
drink a cup of Lethe, and go to sleep and think of 
nothing. But he could not ; for though racked with 
pain and weary of life, he could not die ! 

He could only shrink and shrivel till, after many 
hundreds of years, he was less than two inches long. 
His skin turned dry and brown. His voice became 
cracked, and thin, and shrill. He lost his senses, and 
kept on chirping the same tiling over and over again. 
He never stirred from the warmth of the chimney- 
corner, night or day. His legs grew as thin as threads 
of cotton. He dwindled into a dry, wooden-like insect. 

In short, a Orichet. 

And such he remains to this day. But Aurora is 
as young and as beautiful and as fresh as ever, and 
has clean forgotten him ; while he spends his life in 
trying to be merry, and in chirping : — 

“ Oh, how I want to die ! ” 


THE ADYEHTHEES OF PEESEHS. 


^ANCE upon a time there was a king of Argos named 
Acrisius, to whom it had been foretold that he 
would be slain by his daughter’s son. 

This troubled him greatly. So he built a high tower 
of brass, and imprisoned his daughter DSnSe in the 
very highest room. Having furnished her with pro- 
visions and amusements to last her all her life, he 
closed up all the entrances, so that nobody could get 
into the tower, and set guards all round it, so that 
nobody could even come near it. He did all this so 
that she should never marry and have a son who would 
grow up to kill him. 

You may imagine what sort of a life Danae led, shut 
up in the brazen tower. She was made comfortable 
enough, and had plenty to eat and drink, and musical 
instruments, and pictures, and jewels, and all such 
things ; but she never, from year’s end to year’s end, 
saw a face, except when she looked into the looking- 
glass, nor heard a voice but when she sang to herself 
— which she soon got tired of doing. She could not 


138 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


even look out of the window, because there were no 
windows to look from. She lived by lamplight, and 
she knew that this was to be her life for all the rest 
of her days. 

So Acrisius felt safe and satisfied, and thought he 
had baffled Fate very cleverly indeed. And thus things 
went on for many years — what endless years they must 
have been to the imprisoned princess ! — till one day 
she heard a little chinking noise, as if a gold coin had 
fallen upon the brazen floor of her room. She did not, 
however, pay any particular heed ; indeed, she must 
by that time have got used to all sorts of queer fancies. 
But presently she heard it again. And, looking down 
in an idle way, sure enough she saw a couple of gold 
coins lying on the floor. 

That seemed rather odd, for whence could they have 
come ? Then a third coin joined the two others, and, 
raising her eyes to the ceiling, she saw coin after coin 
coming through a crack so small that she had not 
known till now that it was there. Faster and faster 
came the coins, till they became a shower, and the 
heap of gold on the floor stood higher than her head. 
Then the shower ceased, and the crack was still so 
small that she could not see whence the coins had 
fallen. As she stood wondering, the heap began to 
stir itself ; the gold pieces melted into a single mass, 
which gradually seemed to take life and form. At 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


139 


last, where the gold had been, she saw the form of a 
man, but so stately and royal, and so much grander 
and nobler than any mere man could be, that she fell 
upon her knees before him. 

“I am Jupiter,” said he, raising her, “and I have 
chosen you to be my earthly bride.” 

So just that little crack in the ceiling, only just big 
enough for a thin gold coin to squeeze through, brought 
about what Acrisius had been at such trouble to pre- 
vent. And in time the news came to the king that 
a child had been heard crying in the brazen tower. 
He broke his way in, hurried up the staircase to the 
highest room, and there, to his rage and terror, he 
found Danae with a child, a boy, in her arms. 

But he was determined not to let fate conquer him. 
He could not very well have his daughter and grand- 
son put to death — at least openly. But he had them 
carried out to sea and then turned adrift in a small 
leaky boat without sail, oars or rudder, so that they 
were certain to be drowned. This having been done, 
Acrisius felt happy and comfortable again. 

Now there lived on the little island of Serlphus, 
more than two hundred miles away, an honest fisher- 
man named Dictys. It is often rough weather about 
there, and bad for fishing ; but he was a brave and 
skilful sailor, and the weather, in order to keep him 
ashore, had to be very rough indeed. You may think. 


140 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


therefore, how bad the weather was when, for the first 
time in his life, he was unable to cast his nets for many 
days and nights together, — so many that he began to 
wonder what in the world he should do to get food foT 
his wife and children. He used to lie awake listening 
to the hoAvling wind and roaring sea, and then, going 
down to the beach, sought for food among the rocks 
and pools, thinking himself lucky if he could find a 
damaged crab or a bunch of eatable sea-weed. 

One morning while he was searching about with a 
heavy heart, he, passing a jutting rock, came suddenly 
upon a young and handsome woman, in clothes all torn 
and drenched by the waves, sitting with a baby in her 
lap, and forlornly rocking herself to and fro. Hard by 
were the broken timbers of a boat, Avhich had doubtless 
been blown ashore by the Avind. Dictys questioned 
her kindly, but she could not or Avould not answer ; so, 
taking her by the hand, he led her to his cottage, Avhere 
his Avife, Avho Avas as good-hearted as he, made a big 
fire of wreck-Avood, and gave the mother and child a 
share of what food they had left, though it could ill 
be spared. From their famished looks he judged that 
they must have been tossing about on the Avaves for 
many days. But though the Avoman thanked him grate- 
fully, Avith tears in her eyes, she did not tell him any- 
thing of her story except what he could see for himself 
— that she had been lost at sea. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


141 


“Perhaps she has lost her memory,” he said to his 
wife, when their guests were sleeping, worn out with 
all they had gone through. What is to be done? We 
do not even know who they are.” 

“And look at their clothes ! ” said his wife. “ For 
all their being in rags, they might have been made for 
a queen and a queen’s son. But whoever they are,” 
she said with a sigh, “we can’t let them perish of 
hunger and cold. I never saw such a beautiful child 
— not even among our own.” 

Dictys sighed still more deeply, for to be burdened 
with two more mouths to feed in those bad times was a 
serious thing, even though his heart also bled for the 
misery of the mother and the beauty of the boy. . . . 
“ I have it, wife ! ” he exclaimed at last. “As soon as 
they are rested, and as I’ve nothing else to do, worse 
luck. I’ll take them to the king. He’ll do something 
for them, I’m sure. And if he doesn’t, why, we must 
do what we can, that’s all, and hope for better times.” 

So when the mother and child were quite rested and 
refreshed, Dictys set off with them for the king’s palace,' 
doing his best to cheer them by the way. Seriphus is 
a very little island, not more than a dozen miles round, 
so they had not to go far, and fortunately they found 
the king at home. The King of Seriphus at that time 
was Polydectes, who, having heard the fisherman’s 
story, and being struck with the beauty and high-born 


142 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


air both of the woman and of the child, kept them in 
his own palace, treated them as guests whom he 
delighted to honor, and was much too polite to ask 
questions. The mother told nobody anything except 
that her child’s name was Perseus, and that hers was 
Danae. 

Perseus grew up into such splendid manhood that for 
a long time Polydectes was fond and proud of him, and 
treated him as if he were his own son. He was strong 
and handsome, brave, noble-minded, and marvelously 
accomplished both in mind and body. He was devoted 
to his mother ; and he could never do enough to show 
his gratitude to Dictys the fisherman, who had been 
kind to her in her need. But his very virtues became 
his misfortune. Polydectes gradually became jealous 
of him, for he could not help seeing, that the people of 
Seriphus loved and honored Perseus more than the 
king himself, and he was afraid that they might rebel 
and make Perseus their king. Besides that, he wanted 
to have Danae in his power, and without a protector, so 
that he might marry her against her will. Therefore 
he bethought him of a plot by which he could get rid 
of Perseus forever in a seemingly honorable way. 

So one day he called the young man to him, and said: — 

“ Perseus, I know brave you are, and how fond 
of all sorts of difficult adventures. Did you ever hear 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


143 


of the Gorgons ? W ell, the Gorgons are three terrible 
demon sisters who live in the middle of Africa. Their 
bodies are covered with scales like di-agons, which no 
spear can pierce ; their hands are brazen claws ; they 
have snakes instead of hair, just like the Furies — I 
mean the Eumenides ; and they have teeth as long as 
the tusks of a wild boar ; and whoever looks upon them 
is turned to stone. All three are dreadful ; but the 
one who is named Medusa is the most dreadful of all. 
Now I have been thinking, as you are so fond of adven- 
tures, you might go and cut off Medusa’s head. It 
would be something to be proud of for the rest of your 
days.” 

Perseus was rather taken aback by such an errand. 
In the first place, he did not know where to find the 
Gorgons ; in the second place, how was he to kill a 
creature who would turn him into stone by one glance 
of her eyes ? But he was much too brave to refuse, or 
even to think of refusing. “ I will just bid my mother 
good-bye, and then I will start at once,” said he. He 
did not tell his mother what he had undertaken to do 
for fear of alarming her ; but he said good-bye to her 
as cheerfully as if he were only going for a night’s 
fishing with their friend the fisherman. Then, having 
asked Dictys to take care of his mother till he came 
back again, he lay down to get a little sleep before 
starting. 


144 


THE ADVENTUKES OF PERSEUS. 


He had a curious dream. He thought that Pluto, 
Minerva, and Mercury came to his bedside, and that 
each made him a parting present. Pluto gave him a 
helmet, Minerva a shield, and Mercury a pair of sandals, 
with little wings fastened to them, and a curious 
weapon, of which the blade was shaped like a scythe, 
and made of a single diamond. But the dream was not 
so strange as what he found when he woke. There, on 
his bed, actually lay the helmet, the shield of polished 
steel, the winged sandals, and the scythe-shaped dagger. 

Well, somebody must have put them there. Per- 
haps they were parting gifts from King Polydectes. 
So first he put on the helmet ; then he placed the 
weapon in his belt ; then he slung the shield over his 
shoulders ; last of all, he bound the winged sandals on 
his feet, and when the wings spread themselves at his 
heels, and carried him high up into the air, he began to 
think that the visit of the gods must have been some- 
thing more than a dream. 

He went up so high that the earth looked like a large 
map spread out below him, on which the island of 
Seriphus seemed but a mere speck in the sea over which 
he was drifting southward. After many hours of this 
strange sort of travel, he began to descend, and came 
down upon his feet in the middle of a hot sandy plain, 
where neither hill nor tree nor water was to be seen. 
He could not tell where he was. But he did not lose 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


145 


courage ; and he set out across the desert, knowing that 
if he kept straight on in one direction, he must reach 
somewhere or other in time. 

But not till nearly nightfall did he see, in the far 
distance, a cluster of palm-trees — the sure sign of 
water, which his long journey over the hot and glaring 
sand, under the blazing sun, had made him need sorely. 
Reaching the palm-trees at last, he found, in the midst 
of the cluster, a wooden hut. W ondering that anybody 
should live in such a place, but hoping to find food and 
guidance, he knocked boldly on the door with the hilt 
of his sword, and was bidden, by a hoarse, cracked 
voice, to come in. 

He entered, and found three very old women warm- 
ing their hands at a few burning sticks, although it was 
so hot in the desert that Perseus could hardly bear the 
weight of his shield. As he came in, the three crones 
turned their faces towards him ; and he saw that one of 
them had only one eye and no teeth, that another had 
only one tooth and no eye, and that the third had 
neither teeth nor eyes. 

“ I am a traveler,” said Perseus, “ and have lost my 
way. Will you kindly tell me where I am? ” 

“ Come in and show yourself,” said the crone who 
had the eye, sharply. “ I must see who you are before 
I answer,” she added, though her one eye was looking 
straight at him all the while. 


146 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


“ Here I am,” said Perseus, stepping into the middle 
of the room. “ I suppose you can see me now.” 

“ It’s very strange — very strange ! ” said the old 
woman. “ Sisters, I hear a man’s voice, but I see no 
man ! ” 

“ Nonsense, sister ! ” said the one who had the tooth. 

You can’t have put the eye in right. Let me try.” 

To the amazement of Perseus, the first old woman 
took out her eye and passed it to the second, who, after 
giving it a polish, put it into her own face and looked 
round ; but she also saw nothing. 

The two wrangled for a while as to whether there 
was anything to be seen ; and then the eye was passed 
round to the third sister. But she also failed to see 
Perseus, though the eye rolled in her head, and glowed 
like a live coal. 

And so they kept passing the eye round from one to 
another, and yet nothing could they see. At last 
Perseus, feeling terribly hot and tired, took off Pluto’s 
helmet to cool himself, when suddenly — 

“ There he is ! I see him now ! ” exclaimed the old 
woman who, at the moment, happened to be using the 
eye. 

Then Perseus found out that his helmet made him 
invisible when he put it on ; and he had. already found 
out the use of his sandals. Perhaps the other gifts 
would have their uses too. 


THE ADVENTURES OP PERSEUS. 


147 


He let the old women have a good look at him each 
in turn, and then said — 

“ I am very hungry and thirsty and tired, and don’t 
know where I am. Will you give me a little food, and 
tell me who such kind ladies are, and what this place 
is, and put me on the right road to where I want to go?” 

It was the one who happened to have the eye in her 
head that always spoke. 

“We will give jovl some food,” said she, “for you 
seem a very well-behaved young man. This place is 
the great desert of Libya ” (which is what we now 
call the desert of Sahara, in Africa) “and we are 
three sisters, called the Graise. And where do you 
want to go ? ” 

“ I want to visit the Gorgons, and particularly 
Medusa,” said he. “Do you happen to know where 
they are ? ” 

“ Of course we know, for they are our own kins- 
women ! But never, no, never, will we tell you where 
they live, or the way to get there. Never will we let 
so handsome a youth be turned into stone ! ” 

“ Never ! ” croaked the old woman with the tooth. 

“ Never ! ” mumbled the third. 

Perseus did all he could to persuade them, but they 
were so stubborn that he was only wasting words. 
Meanwhile they laid out supper, which they ate in a 
very strange way, each taking her turn with the one 


148 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


tooth which they had among them, and passing it round 
from one to the other, just as they did with their only 
eye. This made the meal rather long and slow, for 
they ate enormously. After supper they put the eye 
and the tooth into a little box while they took a nap, 
when Perseus, watching his opportunity, snatched' up 
the box, put on his helmet, and cried out — 

“ Now tell me the way to Medusa, or else you shall 
never see or eat again ! ” 

The poor old Graise went down on their knees, and 
implored him to give them back their only tooth and 
their only eye. But he said — 

“ It is my turn to be stubborn. Tell me where to 
find Medusa, and you shall have them back ; but not a 
minute before.” 

“ I suppose we must, then,” said the eldest, with a 
sigh. “Well, it won’t be our fault now, whatever 
happens. And after all, it’s better that you should be 
turned into stone than that we should be blind and 
starved.” 

“ Much better,” her sisters groaned. 

“Very well, then,” said the eldest Graia, “you must 
go straight on, night and day, until you come into the 
country of King Atlas, which is called Mauritania. 
Near the king’s palace is a garden where the trees bear 
golden apples, guarded by a dragon. If the dragon 
does not devour you, you must pass the garden gate. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


149 


and go on, a long, long Avay, till you come to a great 
lake Avliere, if you do not find the Gorgons, you will be 
a lucky man.” 

Perseus gave the old women back their tooth and 
eye, which they received with joy, and thanking them 
for their information, left the liut and traveled on. 
After many days and nights, during which he found it 
hard to find food, lie came into a fertile country wherein 
stood a stately palace, so high that it seemed to touch 
the clouds. Hard hy was a vast garden enclosed by a 
high wall, and at the gate, sure enough, sat a monstrous 
dragon with glaring eyes. But Perseus, wearing his 
invisible helmet, passed by safely, because unseen. 

In time he came to the lake, where he took off his 
helmet to quench his thirst. While he was drinking, 
he was startled by the approach of Avhat sounded like a 
mighty rush of wind, and he had but just time to put 
on his helmet again before he saw, reflected in the lake, 
the flying form of the terrible Medusa — the Gorgon 
whom he had vowed to slay, and who, not seeing him, 
sat down beside him with folded wings. 

Well was it for Perseus that he remembered what 
would happen to him if he looked at Medusa. And 
yet how in the world was he to fight her without look- 
ing at her? That was a puzzle indeed. Suddenly he 
bethought himself of Minerva’s shield, which was 
polished like a mirror. He turned it towards Medusa, 


150 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


and saw, not herself indeed, but her reflection in the 
polished shield, which did just as well. 

She was indeed a monster — more terrible even than 
he had expected. She was of gigantic size, hideous 
and cruel in face, with the scales and wings of a dragon, 
horrible claws, and hundreds of writhing and hissing 
snakes on her head instead of hair. No wonder that 
anybody who looked on her was turned at once into 
stone. Perseus, wearing his helmet, and guiding him- 
self by his mirror, from which he never moved his eyes, 
drew his diamond blade, sprang upon the monster, gave 
one stroke just between her chin and where her scales 
began, and, in a single moment, her hideous head was 
rolling on the sand. The snakes gave one last hiss, 
and the deed was done. 

Still keeping his eyes turned away, Perseus, by using 
his mirror, found the head, which he slung out of his 
sight behind him. Scarcely had he done this when he 
heard again the sound of wings, like a great wind — 
the sisters of Medusa, the other two Gorgons, were 
flying over the lake like hurricanes to take vengeance 
upon her slayer. They could not see Perseus himself, 
because of his helmet ; but they saw their sister’s head 
at his back, and could thus swoop down upon him. 
But Perseus, remembering his winged sandals, sprang 
up into the air, and off he flew, with the raging Gorgons 
after him. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


151 


It was a terrible race ! Perseus would not throw 
away the head, though it left such a track behind him. 
For from one of the splashes of blood which fell upon 
the earth sprang the giant Chrysaor, armed with a 
golden sword ; from another leaped into life the winged 
horse Pegasus, who immediately darted olf through the 
air and never stopped until he alighted among the 
Muses upon Mount Helicon ; the smaller drops of blood 
as they fell became countless serpents, and all manner 
of loathsome crawling things. On and on Perseus flew, 
not knowing whither, like one hunted in some horrible 
dream, till his strength failed him, and he came down 
to earth, swiftly and half fainting. 

When he opened his eyes and raised himself from 
the ground, he found himself in the most beautiful 
garden he had ever seen, full of trees laden with fruits 
of gold. But before him stood a huge giant, so tall 
that his head was above the clouds. The giant stooped 
till Perseus could see his face, and said in a voice of 
thunder : — 

“ I am Atlas, King of Mauritania ! How has a 
miiserable pigmy like you passed the dragon who guards 
the gate of the garden of golden apples, and entered in?” 

“ Then from you, as king of this land,” said Perseus, 
‘‘I claim shelter and protection in my father’s name ! 
For the avengers of blood are following after me to 
kill me.” 


152 


THE ADVENTURES OE PERSEUS. 


“ You are safe with me,” said Atlas. “ But who is 
your father, that you claim shelter and protection in 
his name ? ” 

‘‘ My name is Perseus,” said Perseus, proudly, “ and 
I am the son of Jupiter, the king of gods and men ! ” 

“ Of Jupiter ? ” thundered Atlas. “ Then — prepare 
to die ! ” 

“You would kill a son of Jupiter? ” asked Perseus, 
amazed. 

“ Ay, and any son of Jupiter who comes in my way ! 
For hath it not been foretold that by a son of Jupiter 
shall I be robbed of my golden apples ? For what else 
are you here ? Son of Jupiter, once more, prepare to 
die ! ” And so saying, he lifted his enormous arm, one 
blow of which would have swept away ten thousand 
men as if they were a swarm of flies. 

Perseus gave himself up for lost, for he had no more 
chance against Atlas than a beetle would have against 
an elephant. However, like a brave knight, he resolved 
to die fighting : he drew his sword and grasped his 
shield — at least what he meant to be his shield ; for it 
chanced to be Medusa’s head which he brought from 
behind his shoulder and held up before the giant. 
Down came the huge right arm of Atlas to crush him. 
But even in death the head did its work. No sooner 
were Medusa’s staring eyes turned upon the giant than 
all in a moment his limbs stiffened, and he became a 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 153 

vast mountain of stone, with its head above the clouds. 
And there stands Mount Atlas to this day. 

Thankful for his wonderful escape, Perseus, without 
taking a single golden apple, continued his journey, no 
longer pursued by the Gorgons, who had doubtless lost 
trace of him. Leaving Mauritania, he recrossed the 
great Libyan desert, and traveled on and on until he 
reached the coast of Ethiopia, and entered a great city 
on the seashore. 

But though the place was evidently great and rich, 
the whole air seemed full of sadness and gloom. The 
people went about silent and sighing, and altogether so 
woe-begone that they had no attention to spare for a 
stranger. When he reached the king’s palace the signs 
of mourning were deeper still : it was like entering a 
tomb, all was so plunged in speechless sorrow. 

“ What is the matter ? ” asked Perseus at last, seizing 
a passing servant by the arm, and compelling him to 
listen. “ Is it the death of the king ? ” 

“ Ah, if it were only that ! ” said the man. “ But 
no ; King Cepheus is alive and well. Alas, and woe is 
me ! ” And so once more he fell to wailing, and 
passed on. 

Thus over and over again Perseus vainly sought an 
answer, getting nothing but tears and groans. And so, 
none heeding him, he went on till he reached a chamber 


154 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


where sat the king himself in the midst of his court ; 
and here was the deepest mourning of all, 

“ I perceive you are a stranger,” said King Cepheus. 
“ Pardon us if we have seemed inhospitable and unlike 
the Ethiopians, the friends of the gods ; it is not our 
way. But,” he continued, the tears flowing as he 
spoke, “ if you knew, you would understand.” 

“Let 'me know,” said Perseus gently, for he was 
filled with pity for the king’s tears. 

“ My daughter, the Princess Andromeda,” answered 
the king, “ is condemned to a horrible death ; I know 
not whether she is yet alive.” 

“How,” asked Perseus, “can a king’s daughter be 
condemned to death against her father’s will? ” 

“ No wonder it sounds strange,” answered Cepheus ; 
“but listen: Andromeda is my only child. For some 
reason — I know not what — the gods have permitted 
the land to be ravaged by a monster which came out of 
the sea, whose very breath is a blight and a pestilence, 
and which spares neither man, woman, nor child. Not 
one of us is left without cause to mourn. Fearing the 
destruction of all my people, I asked of the great oracle 
of Ammon in what way the work of the monster could 
be stayed. Alas ! the oracle declared that nothing 
would avail but delivering up Andromeda herself to its 
fury to be devoured. What could I do? Could I 
doom all my people to lose all their children for the 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


155 


sake of my own ? There was but one thing for a king, 
who is the father of all his people, to do : and even 
now — ” But he could say no more. 

“ Oracle or no oracle,” cried Perseus, “ it shall not 
be while I am alive ! Where is the princess ? ” 

“ She was chained at sunrise to a rock on the seashore, 
there to wait for the monster. But where she is now — ” 

Perseus did not wait for another word, but, leaving 
the palace, hurried along the shore, already half covered 
by the rising tide, helping himself over the difficult 
places by the wings at his heels. At last he came to 
what made his heart beat and burn with pity and rage. 
Chained by her wrists to a pillar of rock was the most 
beautiful of all princesses, stripped naked, but for the 
long hair that fell over her shoulders, and for the rising 
waves, which were already nearly waist-high. But 
what struck Perseus most was her look of quiet courage 
and noble pride — the look of one who was devoting 
herself to a cruel death for her country’s sake, and in 
order that others might be saved. 

The whole heart of Perseus w'ent out to her: he 
vowed, if he could not save her, to share her doom. 
But before he could reach her side, a huge black wave 
parted, and forth came the monster — a creature like 
nothing else of land or sea, with a bloated, shapeless 
body, studded with hungry, cruel eyes, and hundreds 
of long, slimy limbs, twisting and crawling, each with 


166 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


a yawning mouth, from which streamed livid fire and 
horrible fumes. Andromeda turned pale as the loath- 
some creature came on with a slowness more dreadful 
than speed. Perseus could not wait. Springing from 
the rock with his wings, he threw himself, like light- 
ning, full upon the monster, and then began such a 
struggle as had never been seen before. The creature 
twined its limbs round Perseus, and tried to crush him. 
As soon as Perseus tore himself from one, he was 
clutched by another, while the pulpy mass seemed proof 
against thrusts or blows. 

Perseus felt his life passing from him ; he put all the 
strength left him into one last blow. It fell only on 
the monster’s right shoulder. But that was the one 
place where it could be pierced. The coils relaxed, 
and Perseus, to his own amaze, saw the monster float- 
ing, a shapeless corpse, upon the waves. 

Having released Andromeda, who had watched the 
struggle in an agony of dread for what had seemed the 
certain fate of her champion, he carried her back through 
the air to her father’s palace ; and I need not tell how 
the mourning turned into wonder and joy ! 

“What can I do to show my gratitude?” asked 
Cepheus of Perseus. “Ask of me whatever you will, 
and it shall be yours, on the word of a king ! ” 

“ Give me Andromeda to be my wife,” said Perseus. 
“ That is all I want in the world.” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


157 


“ Gladly,” said Cepheus ; but suddenly he became 
grave. “ I have promised on the word of a king, which 
cannot be broken. But I must warn you that you are 
not the first in the field. Andromeda has long been 
claimed in marriage by the powerful Prince Phineus : 
and he is not the man to lose what he wants without 
giving trouble.” 

‘‘ He never gave any trouble to the monster,” said 
Perseus, thinking that Cepheus, though kind and 
honorable, was rather a weak and timid sort of king. 
So the marriage of Perseus and Andromeda was settled, 
to the great joy of both ; and all the nobles were invited 
to a great festival in honor of the wedding, and of the 
delivery of the land. The Ethiopians were famous for 
their feasts, — so much so that the gods themselves 
would often leave the nectar and ambrosia of Olympus 
to be guests at their tables. 

Everything went on very happily, when in the very 
midst of the banquet was heard the clash of arms ; and 
those who were nearest the door cried out that Prince 
Phineus had come with an army to carry off the bride. 

“ Do not be alarmed,” said Perseus. “ Only let 
everybody shut his eyes until I bid him open them 
again.” 

It seemed an odd order; but Cepheus and all his 
Court had such faith in Perseus that they instantly 
obeyed him, and all shut their eyes. Perseus, especially 


158 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


bidding Andromeda close hers, drew forth Medusa’s 
head, turning the face towards the door. And when, 
at his bidding, Cepheus and the rest opened their eyes 
and looked, they saw Phineus and his army all turned 
into statues of stone. 

After resting from his adventures at the Court of 
King Cepheus, Perseus set sail with Andromeda, in 
one of the king’s ships, for Seriphus, where they arrived 
after a safe and pleasant voyage. He was impatient to 
see his mother again, and to show King Polydectes how 
well he had done his errand. On reaching Seriphus, 
he left Andromeda in the ship, while he went alone on 
shore to see how things had gone while he had been away. 

His way to the palace led him past the temple of 
Minerva, at the gate of which he found great confusion. 
Forcing his way through the crowd, he entered, and 
was astonished to see his mother, Danae, crouching in 
terror by the altar, with Dictys the fisherman standing 
before her, and defending her from King Polydectes 
and his guards, who were crowding the temple. Clear- 
ing his way to the altar-steps, Perseus heard hurriedly 
from Dictys what was happening : how the king, tak- 
ing advantage of his absence, had been persecuting 
Danae to marry him against her will, and had at last 
driven her into the temple to make her his wife by 
force* Dictys alone had come to her rescue ; but what 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


159 


could one man do against the king and all his 
guards ? 

“And now you have come,” sighed Dictys, “you will 
be slain too. See, they are coming on ! ” 

“You sent me to slay Medusa, King Polydectes,” 
cried Perseus. “ See how well I have obeyed you ! ” 

So saying, he held up the fatal head ; and the king 
and his guards forthwith became stone. Thus was 
Polydectes destroyed by his own treachery. 

The people desired to make Perseus king ; but he 
had a longing to pay a visit to the land of Argos, where 
he had been born, but which he had never seen. So 
he made Dictys the fisherman King of Seriphus, think- 
ing that kindness, courage, and faithfulness were the 
chief things to be looked for in the choice of a ruler, 
and set sail for Argos with his wife and mother. 

Of course nobody there knew any of them ; for 
Perseus had left the country when a child in arms, and 
Danae had spent her girlhood shut up in a brazen tower. 
It so happened that, when they reached land, the 
people of Larissa were celebrating some solemn games 
in honor of their king, who had just died — wrestling, 
racing, and so forth ; and Perseus, hearing the news, 
went round by way of Larissa to take part in them. 

Having shown himself best in every sport, he joined 
in a game of quoits, in which, as always, he found him- 


160 


THE ADVENTUEES OF PERSEUS. 


self without a rival. Having outdone all others, he 
thought he would outdo even himself ; and, taking up 
the heaviest quoit, he cast it so far that it passed over 
the heads of the circle of spectators, so that none could 
see where it fell — 

Until they were startled by a cry which made the 
people crowd to where an old man had fallen from his 
seat, and now lay dead upon the ground. The quoit 
had struck him on the head, and — 

“ Fly ! ” cried those who stood about Perseus. “ It 
is Acrisius, King of Argos, whom your unlucky quoit 
has killed ! ” 

And thus came to pass what had been foretold at 
the beginning — King Acrisius had been slain by his 
daughter’s son. 

As for Perseus, whose adventures were now at an 
end, he refused the kingdom of Argos, which had come 
to him in such an unfortunate manner, and, traveling 
further into Greece, built a city and made a kingdom 
for himself, which he called Mycenae. Here, with 
Andromeda and Danae, he lived in peace and happi- 
ness, ruling so well and wisely that when he died he 
was made a demigod, and admitted into Olympus. 
There are two constellations which are still called 
Perseus and Andromeda. The Gorgon’s head he con- 
secrated to Minerva, who fixed it in the middle of her 


THE ADVENTURES OF PERSEUS. 


161 


shield, where it still retained its power of turning the 
enemies of the goddess of Wisdom into blocks of stone. 

I expect that one part of this story has reminded 
you of how St. George of England rescued the Princess 
Sabra from the dragon. Well, there is this great like- 
ness among all good knights,- that they have the help 
of heaven, because they would be equally good and 
brave whether they had such help or no. 


THE GOLDEH FLEECE. 


HEN jEson, who was King of lolcos, began to 



^ ^ grow old, he left his kingdom to his infant son, 
Jason. But the throne was usurped by his uncle 
Bellas, who forthwith consulted an oracle as to what 
he should do to make himself secure. The answer of 
the oracle was strange. It was — “Fear nobody who 
cometh not with and without a shoe.” 

“There is nothing very alarming about that,” 
thought Pelias ; so, instead of having Jason killed, as 
he had first thought of doing, he sent away the child 
into Thessaly, a long way off, among the people called 
Centaurs, hoping that he would never hear of him again. 

The Centaurs were a very singular race. They 
were half man and half horse, as if a man’s body down 
to the waist were set upon a horse’s shoulders. Thus 
they had a horse’s four legs for running, and a man’s 
head and arms for thinking and fighting : they were 
famous archers, very learned, and very brave. Their 
most famous chief was Chiron, who, besides being 
their best archer, was also a great philosopher and 
physician. Chiron, struck by Jason’s quickness, became 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


163 


his teacher, so that the young prince grew up skilled 
both in all manly exercises and in every branch of 
human knowledge. 

When he had become a man, the Centaur thought it 
only right that he should know his birth and parent- 
age, and should have a chance of regaining his father’s 
throne, since he was so fit to be a king. But first he 
consulted the oracle, which gave to Chiron as strange 
an answer as it had given to Pelias — “Who seeks a 
crown shall wear the leopard’s hide.” 

So Jason, by Chiron’s counsel, went out hunting, 
and, having killed a leopard, dressed himself in its 
skin. Then he set out, on foot and alone, for lolcos ; 
and proceeded without anything happening to him, 
until he reached a mountain-torrent, so deep, so broad, 
and so strong, that the best of swimmers could not 
hope to reach the other side. 

He was gazing at the torrent, wondering what he 
should do, when a very old woman, bent and lame, 
came hobbling by, and asked him why he stared so 
sadly at the stream. 

“Reason enough,” said he, “when that water is 
keeping me from a kingdom.” 

“ Is that all ? ” asked the old woman ; “ I can soon 
put that right for you. I am going across myself ; and 
I’ll take you on my back with the greatest pleasure in 
the world.” 


164 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


Jason thought she was laughing at him. But some- 
thing about her — he could not tell what — made him 
feel that she was no common old woman ; and even as 
he looked her back seemed to straighten itself and her 
figure to enlarge. No; she was certainly not joking: 
her smile was only friendly and kind. It might not 
be very dignified for a rightful king to enter his king- 
dom dressed up in a leopard’s skin and riding on the 
back of an old woman, and it did not seem very safe, 
either. However, as there was certainly nothing else 
to be done, he got upon the back of the old woman, 
who at once stepped out into the raging stream. 

How strong the flood was he could tell from the 
forest-trees which it had torn up by the roots and was 
carrying away headlong. But while Jason’s brain 
reeled with the whirl, the old woman remained as 
steady as a rock, and strode through the deepest and 
roughest places with ease. In a wonderfully short 
time Jason reached the other side, with no worse mis- 
hap than the loss of his left shoe. 

“ Never mind that,” said the old woman. “ The river 
is bound to have something. You have only given it a 
shoe ; most people have to give it their lives.” 

“But what do you give it then?” asked Jason. 

“ Oh, the gods go toll-free,” said the old woman. 
“I am Juno.” And before Jason had recovered from 
his surprise, she was gone. 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


165 


Jason continued his journey ’ till he reached lolcos, 
where the oddity of a man dressed in nothing but a 
leopard’s skin soon gathered a crowd around him. 
The news of the sight spread about till it reached the 
ears of King Pelias himself, who came out of his palace 
to discover what was going on. But as soon as he 
caught sight of the stranger in the leopard-skin he 
started with dismay. There stood a man with a shoe 
and without a shoe — just what the oracle had warned 
him to fear ! 

Seeing that it was the king, Jason at once went up 
to him, and said — 

“I am Jason, the son of ^son. Give up to me this 
kingdom, which is rightfully mine ! ” 

His boldness and his royal bearing had a great effect 
upon the people, who hated Pelias, and were glad to 
welcome back the rightful heir. They set up a great 
shout for Jason, which alarmed Pelias still more ; and 
many of them pressed forward with drawn swords. 

But Pelias, if he had not much courage, had plenty 
of craft. And so he answered, after a moment’s 
thought : — 

“ Why, of course you shall have what is your own. 
Do you think I want to rob you — to keep what is not 
mine for a single day ! I am only too glad to welcome 
you, my dear nephew, home again. I have been won- 
dering what had become of you, and not till after 


166 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


long searching did I give you up for lost. I think you 
will find that I have taken good care of your kingdom 
while you have been away. I deserve some credit for 
having had all the hard work, while you, no doubt, 
have been going about and amusing yourself. I am 
ve^ glad to see you — indeed I am.” 

Jason was rather surprised to find everything so easy, 
and his uncle so friendly. Indeed he hardly knew 
what to say. 

“ I am only eager to enter upon my duties,” said he 
at last ; “ and I shall look to you to help me to govern 
well.” 

“ That is the right spirit,” said Pelias. “ So I will 
tell you the first of your duties ; one that I rejoice to 
give over to better and younger hands than mine. It 
is difficult and even dangerous — ” 

“All the better,” said Jason. “It will bring all the 
more glory.” 

“You are an admirable young man! Well, you 
must know that many generations ago King Athamas 
of Thebes married a princess of Cloudland, named 
Nephele, and had two children, Phryxus and Helle. 
Nephele going mad, he divorced her, and married the 
princess Ino, and had two children more. Ino hated 
Nephele’s children, because they stood in the way of 
her own. So, being a witch, she desolated Thebes by 
a plague, and got a false oracle to declare that the 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


167 


plague should never cease so long as Phryxus and Helle 
were alive. Do you understand ? ” 

“ Perfectly,” said Jason. “ Except that I don’t see 
what all this old family history has to do with me.” 

“ Patience, and you will see,” said Pelias. “ Just as 
Phryxus and his sister Helle were about to be sacrificed, 
a winged ram, with a fleece of pure gold, came out of 
the sea, took the brother and sister on his back, and 
flew away with them through the air. Unluckily, while 
they were flying, Helle turned giddy, tumbled off the 
ram’s back, and was drowned. You have heard of the 
Hellespont, I suppose? Well, that is the part of the 
sea where Helle fell. Phryx;us, however, arrived safely 
at the Court of ^etes. King of Colchis, beyond the 
great Black Sea, where he sacrificed the ram to J upiter, 
out of gratitude for his escape ; but kept the golden 
fleece and married the king’s daughter. At last ^etes, 
wanting the fleece for himself, murdered Phryxus. 
There — do you see your royal duty now? ” 

“I cannot,” said Jason, “honestly say that I do.” 

“What? Why, Phryxus was the son of Athamas, 
who was the son of ^olus, who was the father of 
Cretheus, who was the father of JEson, who is the 
father of you. It is as clear as day that Phryxus was 
your own first cousin once removed. And what duty 
can be clearer than avenging the murder of a first 
cousin once removed ? Especially when the murderer 


168 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


has a fleece of pure gold waiting for some brave man to 
bring away. It is so clear a duty that, if you decline 
it, I will undertake the adventure myself, old as I am, 
rather than let the wrongs of our royal house go 
unavenged.” 

Now glory was Jason’s ruling passion. He would 
have felt disgraced if he had declined any adventure, 
however difficult it might be : and the greater the 
danger, the greater the glory. 

So he had it announced through lolcos and all the 
neighboring countries that he had undertaken the 
Adventure of the Golden Fleece, and that all brave 
knights who desired to share in its perils and glories 
would be welcome. The effect of the proclamation was 
something wonderful. lolcos was speedily thronged 
with princes and knights, the best and noblest of all 
Greece, eager to take part in the expedition ; so that 
Jason found himself captain of a host the like of which 
for birth and valor had never been seen — fifty chiefs, 
and every one of them known to fame. It would be 
too long to name them all. But I must mention “ the 
great twin brethren,” Castor and Pollux, whom you 
know by more than name : and Orpheus the minstrel, 
and that other great minstrel, Amphion, whose music 
had built the walls of Thebes : and Autolycus, the 
craftiest, and Nestor, the wisest, of all mankind : and 
Hercules, the son of Jupiter, of whose deeds you will 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


169 


read hereafter : and Meleager, who has also a famous 
story of his own : and Theseus of Athens, with whom 
you will also meet again, — all these and all their com- 
rades were, like their captain, in the very flower of 
their youth, strength, and valor. Atalanta, a princess 
of Scyros, a great huntress, joined the expedition dis- 
guised as a man : and Aesculapius was its surgeon and 
physician. 

^ The next thing was to build a ship to carry so large 
a company across the great and terrible Black Sea, 
which the Greeks called the “ Euxine,” or “ Friendly ” 
— giving it a good name just because they were afraid 
to give it a bad one, lest it should be angry. The ship 
was at last built, and called the Argo. 

The “Argonauts,” as Jason and his company are 
called — that is to say, the crew of the Argo — set sail 
in great state and honor from a port of Thessaly, crossed 
the ^gean Sea, passed through the Dardanelles into 
the Sea of Marmora (as those parts are now called), and 
then through the Hellespont, the strait where Helle 
had been drowned, into the Black Sea. 

From end to end of these dark and dangerous waters 
the good ship Argo sailed without mishap, save the 
death of its pilot, Tiphys, soon after starting. Erginus 
took his place at the helm. But I cannot help thinking 
that there was another reason for the good luck of the 
Argo. For once, when a great storm arose and threat- 


170 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


ened shipwreck, suddenly two flames of light were seen 
to play round the heads of Castor and Pollux, and 
forthwith the wind fell and the waves became calm. 
You know that — 


“ Safe comes the ship to haven, 

Through tempests and through gales, 


If once the great Twin Brethren 
Sit shining on the sail® >»• 



and if this was the virtue of their spirits after death, 
one may be certain that it was a good thing to have 
Castor and Pollux on board during their brave and 
blameless lives. Those two flames of light are still 
often seen hovering about a ship in stormy weather, 
and sailors still believe them to be of good omen. 

After a long voyage, the Argo arrived safely at ^a, 
the capital of Colchis, where dwelt King iEetes, the 
same who had murdered Phryxus. Colchis proved to 
be a rich and fertile country, inhabited by a people 
curiously like the Gypsies, with very dark complexions 
and black hair, dressed in brightly colored linen which 
they alone knew how to weave and dye. They claimed 
to be descended from a tribe of Egyptians who had 
wandered thither ages ago ; and they had many other 
secrets which none but they and the Egyptians knew. 

Jason, at the head of his company, went before King 
-^etes, and demanded from him the Golden Fleece. 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


171 


-^etes received him in state, sitting upon his throne ; 
and, after hearing Jason’s demand, answered : — 

“Far be it from me, a mere barbarian ch iefta in, to 
refuse what is asked of me by so noble an embassy of 
princes and heroes. I would even now deliver up to 
you the Golden Fleece, were it in my power. But how 
can I give it to you when it is guarded, even from my- 
self, by two fierce bulls with brazen horns, which 
breathe forth flame, and are a match for armies ? Before 
you can obtain the fleece, you must ' first tame these 
bulls.” 

Jason desired nothing better. So he and all his com- 
rades went into the field where the bulls were, and 
endeavored to bind them. But neither he, with all his 
courage, nor the craft of Autolycus, nor the might of 
Heriiules, nor the courage, skill, and strength of the 
whole company together, could prevail against the bulls, 
who breathed fire, and gored right and left with their 
brazen horns. There was work for ^sculapius that day. 

King Aretes had known very well how it would be ; 
but Jason, when night came, retired to the chamber 
which had been assigned to him in despair. Midnight 
found him still waking, when the door opened, and 
there stood before him, holding a lamp, a tall and 
beautiful woman, dark-skinned, black-eyed, and with 
long black hair — beautiful, as I have said, but terrible 
in her beauty. 


172 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


“You have Qp cause for shame,” said she, in a softer 
voice than he would have expected. “They were 
enchanted bulls : and not ten times your number would 
have fared better. This is a nation of enchanters, 
whose king knows how to laugh you Greeks and your 
boasted bravery to scorn. But I am the greatest of all 
enchanters ; and I will teach you how to tame the bulls 
— if you will promise me one thing.” 

“Anything ! ” said Jason. “ Only tell me who you 
are, and what you require of me.” 

“ I am Medea, the king’s daughter,” said she. “And 
what I require is that you shall marry me this night in 
the Temple of Hecate, the Queen of Witches, and that 
you will swear before her altar to be true and faithful 
to me forever.” 

“ Gladly,” exclaimed Jason, who, to succeed in his ad- 
venture, would have gladly sworn anything to any one. 

So he followed her to the Temple of Hecate, the 
Witch-Queen, and there, with many strange and dread- 
ful rites, he married her, and swore to be true and 
faithful to Medea forever. Then she gave him a magic 
herb, and said : — 

‘^his will tame the bulls.” And she also gave him 
a sling and a stone, adding, “ Use this when there is 
need.” "" 

The next morning Jason went into the field alone. 
As soon as the scent of the herb reached the bulls’ 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


173 


nostrils they crouched at his feet ; and when ^etes 
and his Court, and the Greek princes with them, came 
forth, lo ! there was Jason quietly driving a plough 
drawn by the hulls, who were now as tame as common 
oxen. 

“ Some one has been betraying me,” thought the 
king angrily. But he hid his anger, and said ; “You 
have done very well so far. I am sorry to say, how- 
ever, that the Golden Fleece has other guards. Do 
you see these serpents’ teeth? You must sow these in 
the furrow you have made with your plough — and 
then the gods help you if they can.” 

So Jason, having finished his ploughing, sowed the 
serpents’ teeth as if they were seeds of corn. And then 
from that seed sprang up, in less than an hour, a strange 
harvest — an army of giants, as many as the stalks of 
wheat in a wide field, who rushed upon Jason and the 
Greeks, and trampled them to the ground. 

And every one of them would have been slain had 
not Jason bethought him of Medea’s sling and stone. 
Aiming at the chief of the giants, he let fly, and 
straightway the army vanished like the phantoms of a 
dream. 

The king began to be afraid, for he was coming to 
an end of his spells. He felt sure he had been betrayed, 
but could not guess the traitor. But again he pretended 
friendship, and said : “ That, too, was very well done. 


174 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


I see there is something in you Greeks, after all. But 
it grieves me to the heart to tell you that the most 
terrible guards of the Golden Fleeee still remain — a 
mighty dragon that never sleeps, but watehes the 
Fleeee night and day. If you ean kill him — why 
then — ” 

“ I can but try,” said Jason. So he and his comrades 
were guided by winding paths to the foot of a tree on 
which hung the Golden Fleece, splendid in the sun. 
But at the foot of the tree was a dragon that could 
have devoured ten times as many, ar^r and all, with 
one crunch of his jaws. And he breathed forth such 
fiery pestilence that none could come near. 

Truly it seemed at last as if the adventure was to be 
in vain. 

But, at midnight, Medea came to Jason as before, 
and gave him another herb, and said, “ Take this — 
and remember your vow.” 

Jason was not thinking of the vow, but only of the 
dragon. The next morning he set forth alone, and 
having found his way to the tree, waved the herb 
before the monster. No sooner had the smell of it 
reached its nostrils than its eyes began to droop and 
close, and presently the ever-watchful dragon was sleep- 
ing soundly. Instantly Jason darted past him, snatched 
the Golden Fleece from the tree, and hastening back to 
the palace, displayed it before the king’s astonished eyes. 





THE GOLDEN FLEECE. “ 175 



Seize the robber ! ” cried King ^Eetes, to his guards. 


But he had come to an end of his enchantments : Jason’s 
comrades rallied round their captain with drawn swords, 
and made for the shore. 

The king raved and stormed. “ Fetch Medea to me,”' 
he cried; “she shall raise such a tempest as will sink 
the foreign pirates to the bottom of the sea.” But even 
as he spoke, in ran one of the slaves with the news — 

“ The Princess Medea — the Greeks are carrying her 
away ! ” 

“Medea — against her will? No ! ” cried the king, 
who now knew who had betrayed him. “ There is no 
power on earth that could make her captive, or carry 
her away unless she chose to go. Absyrtus,” he said, 
turning to his son, “hasten after those brigands, and 
bid your sister return, and I will follow with my whole 
army to cut them o£E from their ship and destroy them 


all.” 


The news was true : Medea was so passionately in 
love with Jason that she had forgotten her father and 
her country, and was even now guiding the Greeks 
back to where the Argo lay. But, great enchantress 
though she was, she was not all-powerful, and she knew 
that her spells would be in vain against her own people. 
And her father and her brother knew this too. 

Her ears were quick, however ; and while the Greeks 
were still far from the shore, she heard the footsteps of 


176 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


Absyrtus swiftly tracking them ; and what was worse, 
she heard, further off, a tramp and clash, which told 
her that the whole Colchian army was in pursuit at 
full speed. 

‘^Hasten on,” she said to Jason. “ I will wait here.” 

So, while he and the Greeks pressed forward, she 
faced round and stood in the middle of the path until 
Absyrtus came up with her. Before he could utter a 
word, she plunged a dagger into her brother’s heart, cut 
off his head and limbs, and then slowly followed Jason, 
dropping a bleeding limb in the path every few yards. 

Things happened just as she intended. When King 
^etes, riding fast at the head of his horsemen, saw his 
son’s head lying in the path before him, he threw him- 
self from his horse with a cry of grief ; and seeing what 
lay further along the ground, forgot everything else, 
even the Golden Fleece, in his sorrow. The cruel 
witch, Medea, had foreseen that her father would never 
leave the remains of his dead son ungathered and 
unburied by the wayside, for the advancing horses to 
trample and for the vultures to devour. King ^Eetes 
was so long in seeking for the last limb that, by the 
time it was found, Jason and the Greeks had reached 
their ship and had set sail, and Medea with them. 

But the murder of Absyrtus seemed to cling like a 
curse to the Argo^ and to keep her from coming home. 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


1T7 




out of her course by storms and contrary winds, 
she wandered into unknown oceans, drifting e^j^n so 
far as the wild and desolate islands of Britain, in the ’ 
mysterious Northern Sea. The Argonauts narrowly 
escaped being devoured, ship and all, by tlje horrible 
sea-fiend Scylla, with twelve feet, six hideous heads, 
each with three rows of teeth, and a body made of 
barking dogs, who sits upon a rock and watches for 
sailors. And, just avoiding her jaws, they nearly fell 
into the whirlpool of Cha^bdis, another sea-fiend, so 
close to Scylla that it was hardly possible to escape one 
without being destroyed by the other. They passed 
the island of the Sirens, of whom you read in the story 
of Neptune, and would have fallen victims to their 
singing had not Orpheus made such music on his lyre 
that the Sirens ceased their own song to listen, and let 
the ship pass by. 

I do not know what Medea was doing all this while. 
Perhaps she was powerful only on land ; perhaps she 
could do nothing without her magic herbs ; perhaps 
her passion for Jason had made her weak ; perhaps she 
felt some touch of remorse ; perhaps her wicked witch- 
craft was of no effect in the presence of iEscul^ius, 
who, knowing more magic even than she, used his 
knowledge for helping and healing. But I do know 
that Jason was beginning to suffer sorely because of 
the vow he had made of his faith and life to Medea, 


/^i 


Driven 


178 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


and to feel that murder and black magic, and a wife 
whom he dreaded and did not love, were too high a 
price to pay even for glory. He was not like Perseus, 
who had warred against evil with the weapons of the 
gods : Jason had sought only his own glory, and had 
gained it by means hateful to gods and men. 

But his comrades knew nothing of all this — to them 
he was a hero of heroes, and they made the wanderings 
of the Argo famous for something better than narrow 
escapes from peril. They cleared the sea of pirates — 
a work in which Castor and Pollux especially distin- 
guished themselves ; and they righted many wrongs, 
and carried the knowledge of the gods among far away 
barbarian tribes. And at last they saw once i^ore the 
coast of Greece ; at last they touched the l^S of Caly- 
don, where the father of Meleager, one of the Argonauts 
whom I have already named, was king. 

Now this Meleager had a charmed life. The three 
Fates had been present at his birth — -the first had given 
him courage ; the second, strength ; but the third had 
decreed that he should live only so long as a log of 
wood, then burning upon the hearth, should remain 
unconsumed. So his mother, Althsea, had forthwith 
snatched* the brand from the burning, and had kept it 
with care, because upon it depended the life of her sono 
Meleager welcomed Jason and his companions to Caly- 
don ; but they no sooner landed than they heard evil 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


179 


news. The whole country was being laid waste by a 
huge boar, which not even armies could kill. 

Here was another adventure for the Argonauts. 
They proclaimed a great hunt, and tracked the hoar, 
through mountains and forests, to his very den. In 
front of the hunters was Meleager ; but next to him 
came Atalanta — that famous huntress, swift-footed as 
Diana, who had sailed with the Argonauts in the dis- 
guise of a man, and had betrothed herself to Meleager 
while they were homeward bound. Then followed the 
rest, vying with each other which should be foremost ; 
and besides the Argonauts were the princes and nobles 
of Calydon, led by the two brothers of Althaea, who 
still kept the fatal fire-brand secure. 

They drove the boar to bay at last, and, after a 
desperate struggle, Meleager gave it its death-blow. 
All his companions rejoiced at his good fortune ; 
but when he gave the boar’s head, as a trophy, to 
Atalanta, the two brothers of Althaea stood forth and 
said : — 

“It is not right to give such honor to a woman — a 
woman who has no more right to it than we. Such 
trophies are for men ! ” 

So saying, they tried to seize it from her. But 
Meleager, enraged at the insult to Atalanta, defended 
her with his sword, and so unfortunately well that both 
his uncles were slain. 


180 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


Althaea, watching from her window for the return of 
the hunters, at last saw them pass mournfully, bearing 
the bodies of her dead brothers. ‘‘ Who has done this ? ” 
she cried ; and being told it was Meleager, she cursed 
him, and, in her grief and passion, threw the fatal brand 
upon the hearth, where it was caught by a flame. 
Meleager, though still far off, was forthwith seized with 
scorching pains in all his limbs. As the brand burned, 
so he burned also, and when it was consumed, a flame 
seemed to clutch his heart, and he fell dead in Atalanta’s 
arms. 

Althaea, overwhelmed, when it was too late, with 
horror at the result of her rage, slew herself with her 
own hand. And such was the miserable ending of the 
Hunt of Calydon. 

The Argonauts, having now returned to Greece, 
parted, and went each to his own home. Jason drew 
the Argo on shore near Corinth, consecrating it to Nep- 
tune, and leaving it there as a monument of so famous 
a voyage. Then he returned to lolcos, bringing the 
Golden Fleece with him. 

He was received with triumph and rejoicing, and 
a great feast was prepared to welcome him home. 
But, to his sorrow, he found his father A^son so 
enfeebled by old age as not to be able to be present 
at the festival. 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


181 


“ Do not trouble yourself about that,” said Medea. 
“Let JEson only put himself in my hands, and he shall 
be as young as you.” 

Jason, knowing his wife’s power, consented. So she 
drew all the blood out of Ison’s veins, and filled them 
with the juice of certain herbs ; and he came to the 
festival as young-looking and as vigorous as his own 
son. 

But Pelias, the usurper, who hated Jason, was get- 
ting old, too ; and his daughters, when they saw what 
had happened to jEson, besought Medea that she would 
make their father also young and strong again. 

“You need not come to me for that,” said she. “ You 
can do it for yourselves when I have shown you how.” 

So she killed an old ram, cut him up, and boiled the 
pieces in a caldron into which she had secretly thrown 
some herbs. When the water was cold, out from the 
caldron skipped a young lamb, and frisked away. 

The whole thing looked so easy that the daughters 
of Pelias, that very night, prepared a caldron ; and, 
when the water boiled, killed their father, divided him 
limb from limb, and threw in the pieces, just as Medea, 
had done with the ram. But nothing happened, though 
they waited till the flesh had boiled away from the 
bones. 

They hastened to Medea to help them. But she 
received them with scorn. 


182 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


“ Murderesses ! ” she exclaimed, “ and fools ! It is 
you who butchered Pelias ; it is you who must make 
him live again, if you can. His death is on j^our hands; 
not on mine.” 

Thus Jason was delivered from his enemy. But the 
manner of his deliverance got about among the people. 
They rose up against Medea, and drove her out of the 
city; and Jason had to follow her to whom he had sold 
his soul for glory. 

He had never loved her; and now his fear of her 
was turning into hate, and the hate into loathing and 
horror. All the wickednesses and cruelties she had 
committed for his sake seemed to have become his own, 
and to be so many curses upon him. And even her 
magic had not prospered, seeing that it had cost him 
the kingdom he might have gained by fair means, and 
had driven him into exile. His only comfort was in 
their two children, whom he loved dearly ; and at last 
he could bear life with the terrible Medea no longer. 
He determined to divorce her; to take the children 
away from such a mother; and to take another wife 
whom he could love, and who would not he a terror to 
him. 

Such a wife he found in Creusa, a princess of Cor- 
inth. But he was terribly mistaken if he thought he 
could break the vow he had made to Medea at the altar 
of Hecate, the Witch-Queen. 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


183 


Medea affected to be quite content with what had 
been arranged. She sent Qreusa a wedding-dress, and 
had her children brought to her to bid them farewell. 
The feast was at its height, and Jason was rejoicing in 
his freedom, when a cold cloud seemed to come over 
the guests; and there stood Medea, dark and stern, 
leading her two children by the hand. 

“Traitor and perjurer!” she said to J^on, so that 
all the guests could hear. “ Is this your return for the 
love I have given you ; for the country I left for you ; 
for the sins I have done for you — sins that you took 
the fruits of, but were too cowardly to do? I have 
given you to the last moment to prove your faith ; and 
now the last moment has gone. As you choose to be 
bound to me no longer, my own hands shall destroy the 
last links that bind you and me.” 

So saying, like the tigress she was, she took up the 
children and dashed them dead upon the floor. At 
the same moment Greusa shrieked with the agony 
of the poisoned robe that was clinging to her and 
destroying her. Jason rushed upon Medea with his 
sword. But before he could reach her, a chariot drawn 
by flying dragons, none knew whence, had borne her 
away, none knew whither, through the air. 

Jason, from that time, seemed haunted by the Furies. 
He wandered aimlessly about the world, unable to rest. 


184 


THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 


until one day his eyes fell upon the ship Argo^ still 
reposing peacefully upon the shore. One may imagine 
all the things the sight brought to his mind — his old 
dreams of glory ; the unholy vow which had seemed to 
fulfill them ; the weakness and the unfaithfulness 
which had destroyed them, and him, and others through 
him. Doubtless, he then saw in Medea not so much the 
cruel witch as the evil of his own heart, which had 
taken shape and form and had become a curse from 
which he could not get free. “ If I could only rest like 
you ! ” he cried out, falling on his knees before the ship 
with bowed head and clasped hands. And it seemed as 
if the Argo heard her old captain’s prayer. A yard 
dropped from the mainmast upon his bowed head ; and 
ship and captain lay at rest together. 


A LOST SEOEET. 


IV^INOS, the chief judge of the Court of the Dead 
in Hades, had been during his life the King of 
Crete — that large island where Jupiter had been hidden 
from Saturn. Before the reign of Minos the Cretans 
had been a number of rude and savage tribes, brigands 
by land and pirates by sea. He, however, made a 
single nation of them, civilized them, suppressed brig- 
andage and piracy, built cities, formed a regular army 
and navy, and gave his people a code of wise and just 
laws which never had to be changed. 

When he, for his justice and his knowledge of law, 
was made chief judge in Hades, he was succeeded in 
his kingdom of Crete by his son, Minos the Second. 
He also was a great and powerful king. He conquered 
many of the neighboring islands, adding them to his 
dominions, and made war upon the Athenians, whom 
he defeated utterly. One of his sons having been 
killed in that war, he took a cruel revenge upon the 
vanquished enemy. He laid a tribute upon the city of 
Athens ; and the tribute was that the Athenians should 
send him every year seven boys and seven girls to be 


186 


A LOST SECRET. 


devoured by a monster called the Minotaur — a creature 
half man and half hull. 

• When this savage monster first appeared, Minos had 
been sorely puzzled what to do with such a scourge. 
Nobody could kill it ; and unless it was regularly sup- 
plied with a full meal of hoys and girls, its fury became 
uncontrollable. It was partly to keep the Minotaur 
quiet that he had exacted that particular tribute from 
his enemies. But neither were the Cretan children 
safe while the Minotaur was at large. 

One day, however, there came to the Court of Minos 
a stranger who gave his name as Daedalus, an Athenian, 
and announced himself as;, having fled from his native 
city to escape a charge of murder. He was accompanied 
by a young man, his son, whom he called Icarus ; and 
he asked for whatever employment the king might 
choose to give him. 

“ What can you do ? ” asked Minos. 

“Three things,” said Daedalus. “I can split the 
hardest rocks ; I can make ships go without oars ; and 
out of wood and metal I can make living men.” 

“ Prove your words,” said Minos ; “ and if you do 
these things I shall take both you and your son into 
my service, and pay you well.” 

Daedalus bowed, and obtained leave to set up a forge, 
where he and Icarus were soon heard working all night 


A LOST SECRET. 


187 


and all day. If the listeners could have looked in, they 
would have been surprised. He was making nothing 
more wonderful than pieces of ifon, sharp at one end 
and thick at the other. When he had made enough, 
he summoned the king and his Court to see him split 
the biggest and hardest rock they could find on the 
sea-shore. 

They fixed upon a granite cliff. Daedalus put the 
sharp end of one of his pieces of iron into one of the 
smallest cracks in the face of the cliff, and hammered 
upon the blunt end till he had driven it home. Then 
between this and the stone he drove in another piece of 
iron ; and between these two a third ; and so on, and 
so on, while the rock began to gape, and then to split, 
until the upper portion parted itself from the lower, 
and thundered down into the sea. 

The secret was simple enough. DaBdalus had simply 
invented the wedge^ which can do much greater things 
than that when it is skillfully used. But the Cretans 
were amazed to see, as they thought, one man knocking 
over a cliff with a common hammer. 

Then Dsedalus set up a workshop by the shore, with 
some long sheds, and a supply of hemp and timber. 
Here also he worked day and night ; and at last called 
Minos and his Court to see a ship go without oai^ 

The ship had a tall pole rising from the middle of 
the deck. Dsedalus and Icarus went on board, and 


188 


A LOST SECRET. 


were seen pulling at some long ropes ; and presently 
the ship seemed to spread out wings like a bird, and to 

skim over the water as fast as the wind without the 

» 

help of an oar. 

Dsedalus had invented sails. But the Cretans were 
more amazed than before, never having thought of such 
a simple thing for themselves. 

Daedalus then went back to his forge ; and what he 
did there nobody could guess, for scarce a sound was 
heard. After many days, however, he went to the 
king’s palace, he and Icarus carrying a long and heavy 
chest between them. The chest being opened before 
Minos, Daedalus took out from it a number of images, 
exquisitely wrought in wood, bronze, ivory, silver, and 
gold — men and women ; fauns, nymphs, animals ; 
creatures of all sorts and kinds. 

When Minos had looked at them and admired them, 
Daedalus touched them one after another ; and then, 
with a whirring noise, the images seemed to live. 
The nymphs and satyrs joined hands, and danced in 
a ring round a bronze Pan who piped to them ; a 
number of wooden young men boxed and wrestled : 
in short — 

In short, Daedalus had invented cloch-^ork. But the 
Cretans were more amazed than ever, and stood staring, 
half delighted, half frightened, till he put up the figures 
in their box again. 


A LOST SECRET. 


189 


y “You are the man for me ! ” exclaimed Minos. “I 
said I would take you into my own service ; and I 
will. You shall make a cage for the Minotaur ! ” 

This was certainly not the reward which Daedalus 
had looked for. However, he said nothing, but again 
shut himself up, this time with writing materials, 
compasses, and rules. After a long time he got a body 
of workmen together, and built a Labyrinth • — a mass 
of passages and windings so contrived that nobody who 
was outside could find the way in, and nobody who was 
once inside could find the way out again. Nobody, 
that is to say, unless he had the clue, which was of 
course to be kept secret. The clue which Dsedalus 
invented — and a very good sort it was — was a long 
silken thread, with one end fastened to the center of 
the Labyrinth, carried along all the Avindings to the 
entrance. Anybody wishing to get in would have to 
know this, and in which of the many entrances (for 
there were hundreds of false ones) he must look for the 
hidden end of the thread. Then all he would have to 
do would be to wind up the thread into a ball, follow- 
ing it as he Avound, until he reached the middle of the 
maze. And of course there was another clue to lead 
him out again in the same way. The middle of the 
Labyrinth was a hall with many columns, and an open- 
ing in the roof to let in light and air. This Labyrinth 
having been finished, Daedalus enticed the Minotaur 


190 


A LOST SECRET. 


,/ 

into the central hall, locked him up there, and gave 
Minos the key. 

So the Cretan children were safe, and the monster 
had to be content with his fourteen young Athenians 
every year. 

Daedalus kept on doing work after work for Minos, 
inventing one thing after another, until the queen, who 
was a wicked woman, persuaded Daedalus to help her 
in some piece of wickedness which was discovered by 
the king. Whatever the affair was, it was kept secret 
to prevent a Court scandal. The king’s anger fell 
upon Daedalus and Icarus, both of whom he imprisoned 
in their own Labyrinth — not, I suppose, in the same 
chamber with the Minotaur. 

Indeed I am sure not ; because if they had been in 
the same chamber, Daedalus could have got out by 
means of the clue. But there was no clue to the 
chamber where he was imprisoned, and he had built 
the Labyrinth so cleverly that he himself was lost in its 
mazes. 

Poor Icarus was in despair. But Daedalus only sat 
down on the base of a column and thought things over 
in his usual silent and quiet way. After thinking for 
some days, until they were nearly starved, he set Icarus 
wondering by doing as follows, in order : — 

First, with one of his wedges, he chipped off pieces 
of stone from the columns. 


A LOST SECRET. 


191 


Secondly, he, in the same way, broke the fragments 
into pieces of nearly the same size, rounding them 
roughly. 

Thirdly, from a strip of his coat he made a sling. 

Fourthly, he watched the opening in the roof, and 
whenever a bird passed overhead he discharged a stone, 
and generally brought it down. 

Fifthly, when he had got a sufficient number of birds, 
he plucked out and sorted their wing-feathers. 

Sixthly, he collected all the wax-candles in the cham- 
ber, and melted them in a fire which he obtained by 
some secret invention of his own. 

Seventhly — but what he did seventhly Icarus could 
not see. 

At last, however, his mysterious work, whatever it 
was, seemed done. There lay before him two pairs of 
wings, beautifully made of wax and feathers. 

“I have long thought,” said Dsedalus, “how to 
invent a method of flying. I am glad of this imprison- 
ment, which has obliged me to fix my whole mind upon 
it without interruption.” 

“You have found out how to fly — and with wings 
like those ! ” exclainied Icarus in amaze. 

“ With these very wings. Why not ? Science always 
looks simple. What can look more simple than a 
wedge, a sail, a clock-spring? Fasten those wings on 
your shoulders with the wax, just as you see me fasten 


192 


A LOST SECRET. 


these on mine. There. Now open them ; do you not 
feel as if you could reach the clouds ? Spread them — 
mount — fly ! ” 

So saying, he soared up through the opening in the 
roof, Icarus following him, and steered westward, higher 
and higher through the air. It was morning when 
they started ; by noon they were over the sea out of 
sight of land. 

“ Take care ! ” cried Daedalus. Don’t fly too 
high!” 

But Icarus, reveling in all the delights of a sea-gull 
— nay, of an eagle — soared higher and higher towards 
the noontide sun. In vain Daedalus called upon him to 
come lower. He only laughed at his father for being 
timid and cautious, and soared higher and higher still 
towards the blazing sky. 

Suddenly he felt his wings weakening — the wax was 
melting in the heat of the sun. He tried to spread 
them, so as to let himself down safely. They hung 
soft and limp, and down he came headlong into 
the sea. 

“It’s quite clear that one must think of something 
stronger than wax,” thought Daedalus, as he saw 
Icarus sink and drown. “Well — I’ve lost my son, 
hut I’ve gained a wrinkle.” Taking care to fly as 
low as he could, he himself reached the island of 
Sicily, where he set up another forge, found another 


A LOST SECRET. 


193 


king to keep him going, and invented so many 
wonderful things that to this very day nobody knows 
what they were. 

As for his flying-machine, nobody else has come so 
near to one as even wax and feathers. 


THE OHAMPIOH 0F ATHEHS. 



THRA, a daughter of the King of Troezene, was 


the wife of a foreign prince, and the mother 


of an only child, a hoy, whom they named Theseus. 
While Theseus was still an infant, his father said one 
day to JEthra — 

“ I am obliged to set off on a long and distant 
journey, through countries infested by wild beasts and 
robbers. If I should never return, take care of our 
child, bring him up like a king’s son, and send him to 
the city of Athens as soon as he grows strong enough 
to lift that stone.” 

Athra promised, and her husband left Troezene never 
to return. 

Having given up all hope of seeing her husband 
again, ^thra devoted herself to obeying his last com- 
mands. She gave Theseus the education of a prince ; 
and every day, from the time he left her arms, she 
made him try to lift the stone. The child grew up 
to be the handsomest, strongest, and bravest youth in 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


195 


all the land, so that he had not a rival of his own age 
in all manly sports and feats of arms. But he could 
no more move the stone than he could fly. 

At last, however, the moment came when the stone 
gave way a little. The next day he raised it a trifle 
further, and so on until he lifted it bodily from the 
ground, and rolled it away. Underneath it he found a 
splendid sword, with a curiously carved hilt, unlike any 
he had ever seen. 

The time had therefore come for him to set out for 
Athens, according to his father’s commands. His 
mother implored him to go by sea, and not by those 
perilous paths by which her husband had never returned. 
But Theseus was only tempted by the dangers ; and so, 
taking the sword with him, he set out for Athens over- 
land. 

After a long journey through a wild and difficult 
country, he reached a village, where he sought for 
supper and a night’s lodging. But the place seemed 
deserted, and it was only after a long search that he 
discovered an old shepherd, of whom he asked where a 
traveler might find food and shelter. 

‘‘ Alas ! ” answered the shepherd, “ there is not a 
scrap of food left in the place, not a house left unplun- 
dered. For Sciron has been here.” 

“ And who is Sciron ? ” asked Theseus. 

“ Ah, you must be a stranger indeed ! Sciron is the 


196 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


chief of all the robbers. Do you see yonder castle 
among the mountains ? That is where he lives, and 
thence he issues forth, when he wants food for his 
gluttony, to plunder and lay waste all the country 
round. And he is as cruel and savage as he is greedy. 
Not content with carrying off our cattle and our stores 
of corn and wine, he seizes men and women, and makes 
them wait upon him while he feasts ; and when the 
feast is over, he amuses himself by throwing them from 
a high rock into the sea.” 

“ Thank you,” said Theseus. “ Then I will sup with 
Sciron.” And off he started for the robber’s castle, 
leaving the amazed shepherd to think him a madman. 

It was a long climb to the castle, which stood on the 
peak of a high cliff looking down into the sea. Theseus 
knocked upon the gate with the hilt of his sword, and, 
when it was opened by a ferocious-looking brigand, 
announced himself as a stranger who requested hospi- 
tality. 

“ You’ve come to the right place for that ! ” said the 
brigand, grimly. “ Come with me.” 

Theseus followed him into the hall, where broth was 
being brewed in caldrons, and a fat ox was being 
roasted whole. The robbers were all about — some 
preparing the feast, some already carousing, some 
quarreling over their plunder, some sprawling about 
the floor. In the midst of all the steam and din sat the 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


19T 


chief, a huge and cruel-looking brute, whom Theseus 
did not need to he told was Sciron. 

“So you want hospitality, do you?” asked Sciron. 
“Very well, as you’re a traveler, and don’t know the 
ways of the castle, you shall be let off easily. Of 
course you’ll have to be thrown from the cliff after 
supper — that’s the rule. But instead of being tortured, 
you shall only wash my feet for me and wait on me at 
table. You look as if you understood washing and how 
things ought to be served. Now, then, get some hot 
water and begin,” he said, thrusting out a pair of feet 
which looked as if they had not been touched by water 
for years. 

A grinning robber brought a bowl of hot water. 
Theseus took it and threw it in the face of Sciron. 
“ That wants washing, too,” said he. 

Sciron rushed at him ; hut Theseus received him at 
the point of his sword, and the two fought furiously, 
while the robbers looked on, enjoying the game. Sciron 
was twice the size and weight of Theseus ; hut Theseus 
was the best swordsman in all Greece, and presently 
had him down. 

“ There,” said he, pricking Sciron’s throat with his 
sword, “ you have had a lesson in manners. You shall 
wash my feet and wait on me before you go over the 
cliff after your victims. For I am not going away to 
leave a brigand like you alive behind me.” 


198 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


Sciron, like all such bullies, was a coward at heart, 
and his own men had no longer any respect for him 
now that he had been worsted by a stripling. Amid 
the laughter of the robbers, he had to wash the feet of 
Theseus, and to serve him humbly with meat and drink, 
and was finally punished for his many cruel murders by 
b^ing thrown into the sea. 

^ Having received the thanks of the country for 
ridjding it of such a scourge, Theseus traveled on till 
he came to another village, where he thought he would 
rest a little. 

No sooner had he entered the place, however, than 
he was surr oun ded by a number of armed men, who 
gave him to understand that he was their prisoner. 

“ Is this the way you treat travelers in your country?” 
asked he. 

“Assuradly,” answered the captain of the troop. 
“You are in the country of King Cercyon, and the law 
is that no traveler may leave it until he has wrestl ed 
with the king.” 

“I ask for nothing better,” said Theseus. “What 
happens to the traveler if he conquers Cercyon ? ” 

“ Then he may pass on.” 

“ But if Cercyon conquers him ? ” 

“ Then he is tortured till he dies.” 

“It is strange,” said Theseus, “that I never heard 
of such a law, or even of King Cercyon.” 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


199 


“Not at all strange,” said the captain. “I don’t see 
how you could have heard it, seeing that no traveler 
has ever lived to tell the tale. Cercyon has conquered 
and killed them all, as he will conquer and kill you.” 

And when he saw Cercyon Theseus could well 
believe it. The king was of immense height, with 
broad shoulders, and muscles that stood out like globes 
of iron. He smiled savagely when he saw Theseus, 
and stripped without a word. Theseus stripped also, 
and the two were soon clasping each other like a pair 
of fierce bears, or rather like a bear and a man. 

It was a tremendous struggle, with all the brute 
strength on the side of Cercyon. But Theseus knew 
a hundred turns and twists of which the savage chief- 
tain knew nothing ; and at last, to the amazement of 
all who witnessed the struggle, Cercyon fell dead upon 
the ground with a broken spine. Thenceforth every 
traveler might pass through that country safely and 
without fear. 

Theseus traveled on until he found himself be- 
nighted in a wild country, through which he wandered 
about until he reached a castle, where he craved a 
night’s shelter. Here he was kindly received, and told 
that the lord of the castle and of the country round 
was one Procrustes, who never turned a traveler from 
his door ; nay, even now there were two guests with him. 
And so it proved. Procrustes entertained Theseus and 


200 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


the other two travelers at supper pleasantly and gener- 
ously, and when it was time to retire for the night, 
himself conducted them into a chamber, where a bed, 
with nothing remarkable about it, stood ready in a 
corner. 

“ That is the guest-bed,” said Procrustes ; “ and I 
hope it will fit you.” 

“ Fit us ? ” asked Theseus, puzzled. 

“Yes ; it is the law of the country that if the bed 
does not fit the traveler, the traveler must be made to 
fit the bed. Do you try the bed first,” he said to one 
of the guests, the tallest of the three. 

The traveler lay down, but found the bed rather 
short, and had to draw up his knees a little. “ Be 
good enough to lie straight,” said Procrustes. He did 
so, his feet appearing beyond the bottom. Instantly 
Procrustes, with a sharp hatchet, chopped them off, 
one after another. “You’ll fit nicely now,” said 
he. “ It’s your turn next,” he said to the second 
traveler. 

This one thought himself safe ; for, being short, his 
toes did not reach the bed’s end by a full two inches. 
Procrustes gave a signal, and immediately two strong 
attendants seized the unfortunate man, one by the 
shoulders and the other by the legs, and proceeded to 
pull him out to the proper length, despite his yells of 
pain. 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


201 


“ Stretch him on the rack,” said Procrustes. “ Now,” 
he said to Theseus, “it is your turn in the game, and I 
hope, for your sake, you will give less trouble than the 
rest of them.” 

Theseus had been taken aback at first by these ex- 
traordinary proceedings ; but he now perceived that he 
had fallen upon another of those brigand chiefs who 
infested the country, and who resembled ogres rather 
than mere cruel and blood-thirsty savages. 

So he drew his sword and closed with Procrustes ; 
nor did he cease fighting till he had fitted the robber to 
his own bed by making him a whole head shorter. The 
robbers in the place, cowed by the death of their chief, 
submitted to Theseus, who went round the castle, and 
set at liberty hundreds of maimed victims of the slain 
monster’s cruelty. 

/having received such thanks as they could give him, 
he journeyed on and on until at last he reached Athens. 
What he was to do there he did not know ; but there 
was no need for him to ask. Somehow the fame of his 
deeds had flown before him, — how he had rid the 
country of Sciron and Cercyon and Procrustes, and 
other wild beasts and bri gand s, and he was received as 
befitted his valor. 

Now the King of Athens at that time was ^geus ; 
and the queen was no other than the great and dreadful 
so rceress Medea, who had come to Athens after the 


202 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


murder of her children, and had married the king. 
JEgeus took a fancy to Theseus from the young stran- 
ger’s first appe aran ce in Athens, gave him a high place 
at Court, and treated him as if he had been his own 
son. But with Medea it was diff ^ent . She had a son 
of her own, and she was filled with jeal uusj lest ^geus 
should make Theseus the heir to his throne. More- 
over, she envied and hated him for his courage and 
his fame, in which he so far surpassed her own son 
Medus ; and she feared* him too, for she failed to 
bring him under her spells. So she plotted to destroy 
him in such a way that his death should never be 
brought home to her, just as she had made the 
daughters of Pelias the seeming murderesses of their 
own father. 

She therefore pretended a great admiration for 
Theseus, and got the king to hold a great festival in 
his honor. It was arranged that.^geus, during the 
feast, should send him a golden cup filled with wine, 
in which Medea secretly steeped one of her deadliest 
poisons. 

All went as she had planned. ^Egeus sent the 
poisoned goblet by one of the cup-bearers to Theseus, 
who stood up to drink the health of the king and 
queen. But — 

“ Hold ! ” suddenly cried Aegeus, starting ; “ what 
sword is that at your side ? ” 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


203 


Theseus put down the cup to answer : — 

“It is the sword with which I fought my way to 
Athens. I wear it to-day as my sword of honor.” 

“ But how comes it at your side ? ” 

Then Theseus told the story of how it had been left 
by his unknown father under a stone at Trcezene, and 
how his mother’s name was ^thra. Scarcely had he 
finished when jEgeus, leaving his throne, fell upon his 
neck, exclaiming: — 

“ I was that father ! You are my first-born son, and 
the heir to my crown ! ” 

The Athenians, who already looked upon Theseus as 
their national hero, greeted their prince and future 
king with shouts of joy ; and when the first excitement 
was over, Medea was seen no more. Enraged at the 
failure of her plot, and fearing discovery and vengeance, 
she vanished from Athens : some said they had seen 
her borne by dragons through the air. And this is the 
last of her. 

Freed from her evil influence, the old love of JEgeus 
for A^thra revived, and he could not make enough of 
his and ^thra’s son. But Theseus did not become 
idle, and became in all ways the champion and protector 
of his father’s people. It was he who caught alive the 
famous wild bull of Marathon, which had ravaged the 
country for years, and sacrificed it to Minerva. He 
never spared himself, and he never failed. 


204 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


At last, however, drew nigh that evil hour of Athens 
— that day in every year when the seven youths and 
seven maidens had to be sent to King Minos of Crete 
to be devoured by the Minotaur. The rule was to 
choose the victims by lot : so that none felt safe who 
had sons and daughters young enough to suit the taste 
of the monster. The seven girls were first chosen. 
But when it came to drawing lots for the youths, 
Theseus said : — 

“ You need draw only six this year. I will myself 
be the seventh. It may be that I shall find a way to 
deliver Athens from this tribute ; if not, it is for a 
prince who cannot save his people to perish with 
them.” 

^geus was in despair. But no entreaties could turn 
Theseus from his desperate resolve : neither the prayers 
of his own father, nor those of all the fathers and 
mothers in Athens, who would have drawn the seventh 
lot rather than he who was the pride and hope of the 
city should go to certain destruction. The ship which 
bore the yearly victims to Crete always carried black 
sails in token of public mourning. Theseus, in order 
to leave a little hope behind him, promised that, if he 
came back alive, he would hoist a white sail while 
returning, so that his safety might be seen from afar. 
Then, in solemn procession, amid the weeping of the 
crowd, the youths and maidens embarked in the black- 


THE CHAMPIO#OF ATHENS. 


205 


sailed ship, Theseus leading them with the calmness of 
the only true courage — that which can, in cold blood, 
face danger for the sake of duty. None would have 
thought the worse of him had he stayed behind : and 
if he perished it would be as a mere victim, and without 
glory. Nor was it as if he were encouraged by any 
oracles, or helped by gifts from the gods. He is the 
first hero who was both a mere man and who never had 
any help but his own manfulness. And for all these 
reasons I think that his voyage to Crete is the finest 
story I have yet told. 

When the ship reached Crete, the fourteen victims 
were conducted to the Laby rint h, there to be imprisoned 
until they should be given to the Minotaur. As they 
passed before Minos and his Court, the king’s youngest 
daughter, Ariadne, was filled with pity and love for 
Theseus, and set her thoughts to work how she might 
save him from his doom. But how in the world was 
such a thing to he done ? None without the clue could 
either enter or escape from the maze : and even were 
that possible, it was not likely that the Minotaur would 
let himself be balked of his prey. 

But she watched and waited : she hovered round the 
Labyrinth night after night, examining every door: 
until at last she was rewarded by finding, just within 
one of them, a little silken skein hidden away in a dark 


206 


THE CHAMPfoN OF ATHENS. 


corner. The next night, having procured a torch and 
a sword, she bravely entered the door where the skein 
was, and, by winding up the silk, followed the clue. 
Through one twisting passage after another she wan- 
dered on and on, up and down long flights of steps, 
sometimes through great halls confused with columns, 
and sometimes through tunnels in which it was 
scarcely possible to stand. There seemed no end to 
the way. At last, however, the end of the silken 
thread told her that she had reached the inmost hall : 
and there her torch showed a sight that froze her 
with fear. 

The victims had been delivered over to the Minotaur. 
Crowded together in a corner of the hall were six 
youths and seven girls : stamping and tossing his 
horned head was the horrible monster, furious with 
hunger and the sight of human food. Between the 
Minotaur and his despairing prey stood Theseus, facing 
the monster, so that he, by being the first victim, might 
prolong the lives of the others. He had no hope : he 
could not even struggle, for his hands were bound 
behind him with cords. 

The sight of his courage gave back Ariadne hers. 
She darted forward, and cut his bonds with her sword, 
u Y\j ! ” she cried : “ follow me — I have the clue ! ” 
But as soon as Theseus felt the touch of the steel, he 
seized the sword from her hand, and, instead of flying. 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


207 


set upon the Minotaur with such fury that the monster 
bellowed with rage, amazement, and pain. 

It was the hardest fight Theseus had ever fought : 
the wild bull of Marathon had been nothing to the 
Minotaur, who fought with a bull’s strength and a man’s 
skill and cunning. But the champion of Athens pre- 
vailed at last : and the monster fell dead with a groan 
which echoed through the Labyrinth like the bellowing 
of thunder. 

“ It will wake the whole city ! ” cried Ariadne : 
“ follow me ! ” Theseus and his companions, scarce 
knowing that they were saved, followed Ariadne, who 
wound up the clue as she ran. When they reached 
the entrance-gate, the alarm of their escape had been 
given. Making straight for the shore, they found their 
black-sailed ship, sped on board, and, thanks to a kindly 
wind, were out at sea before they could be pursued. 

The wind carried them to the island of Naxos : and 
here they remained — Theseus, Ariadne, and the rest — 
till the breeze should blow towards Athens. Such a 
breeze came in time ; and then Theseus set sail for 
home with his thirteen companions, leaving Ariadne 
behind, to her great sorrow. Nor can anything make 
me believe that he meant this for a real parting, or that 
she thought so. One can think of many reasons why 
she should remain in Naxos for a while : it is quite 


208 


THE CHAMPION OF ATHENS. 


certain that her powerful father Minos, who had already 
conquered the Athenians, and shown, by a cruel 
vengeance, how he hated them, would have attacked 
them again with all his fleets and armies if he had 
heard that they were giving shelter to a daughter who 
had betrayed him. So, leaving Ariadne safe in Naxos, 
Theseus returned to Athens as the savior of his city 
and the slayer of the Minotaur. 

Meanwhile his father, JEgeus, had been every day 
and all day long looking out to sea from the farthest 
point of the shore for the return from Crete of the ship 
of mourning. He had but little hope, hut nobody can 
help having a little : nor did he quite despair until one 
morning he saw on the horizon a vessel which he felt 
sure was the one he was watching for in such agony ol 
mind. Nearer and nearer it came — alas ! its sails were 
still as black as when it was outward bound. Theseus 
had forgotten to hoist the white sail which was to be 
the sign of safety. 

So ^geus, giving up his son for lost, threw himself 
into the sea and perished, just when Theseus was within 
sight of home. And that sea is called the ^gean, or 
the Sea of uEgeus, to this day. And thus Theseus, to 
the joy of the people, but with sorrow in his own heart, 
found himself king. 

And the best of kings he made. The strength of his 
rule was only equaled by its gentleness. He made wise 


THE CHAINIPION OF ATHENS. 


209 


laws ; he took care that all men received justice ; he 
honored the gods ; he obtained the respect and friend- 
ship of foreign nations ; he taught the Athenians to be 
free, and to govern themselves, so that when he died 
they remained as great a people as while he was alive. 

He sent for his mother, JEthra, and kept her in all 
love and honor. I wish I could tell you that he sent 
for Ariadne also. But he never had any other wife : 
and she was lost to him. There is a strange, mysterious 
story of how, when she was left sorrowing in Naxos, 
the god Bacchus (of whom you read in the First Story 
of Midas) — the god of the bounty of Nature and of the 
joy that men and Avomen find in her — comforted 
Ariadne, and made her his bride, and raised her above 
the earth, giving her a crown of seven stars, which is 
still to be seen in the sky, and is called “ Ariadne’s ' 
Crown.” 

And there is a yet stranger story of how Theseus, 
after he was king, had the very wildest of all adventures 
— nothing less than an attempt to rescue from Hades 
the goddess Proserpine, and other imprisoned souls. 
But what happened to him there, and how he escaped 
the punishment of his daring, belongs to another story. 
It is as the hero and champion of Athens that he is 
remembered : and as such we will leave him. 


THE HEEO OF HEBOES. 


PART I. -THE ORACLE. 


ERSEUS and Andromeda had two sons, Alceeus, 



King of Thebes, and Electryon, King of Argos 
and Mycenae. Alcaeus had a son named Amphitryon, 
and Electryon had a daughter named Alcmena. These 
two cousins — Amphitryon and Alcmena — married ; 
and Jupiter resolved that they should have a son who 
should be the greatest and most famous of men. 

But Juno was in one of her jealous moods ; and she 
was especially jealous that such favor should be shown 
to Alcmena. Having considered how she should spjoil 
his plan, she came to Jupiter in seeming good-humor, 
and said : — 

“ I have a question to ask you. Of two first cousins, 
which shall rule the other, and which shall serve — the 
elder or the younger ? ” 

“ Why, of course, the elder must rule the younger,” 
answered Jupiter. 

“ You swear that — by the Styx? ” asked Juno. 


THE ORACLE. 


211 


“ By the Styx,” Jupiter answered, wondering what 
she could mean by what seemed so trifling a question, 
and then thinking no more of the matter. But Juno 
knew what she meant very well. Alcmena had a 
brother, Stheilelus, who had married the Princess 
Nicippe of Phrygia. And Juno said to herself, ‘‘ They 
also may have a son as well as Alcmena. Then the 
two boys would be first cousins ; and Jupiter has 
sworn that the first-born shall rule the other. So if 
Nicippe has a son first, Alcmena’s son will have to 
serve him and obey him : and then, O Jupiter, there 
will be a greater man than Alcmena’s son ; for he who 
rules must be greater than he who obeys.” 

Now it is Juno herself who settles when children 
shall come into the world. It was easy, therefore, for 
her to manage so that Nicippe’s son should be born 
two whole months before Alcmena’s. Jupiter was 
enraged when, too late, he found what a trick had been 
played upon him ; but he had sworn by the Styx — the 
oath which could not be broken. Thus it became the 
will of heaven that the son of Alcmena should be the 
servant of the son of Nicippe. 

The son of Nicippe was named Eurystheus : the son 
of Alcmena was named Hercules. 

About the childhood of Eurystheus there was nothing 
remarkable. But when Hercules and his twin-brother, 
Iphicles, were only eight months old, the whole palace 


212 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


of Amphitryon was alarmed by the screams of Iphicles, 
which brought Alcmena and the whole household run- 
ning into the room where the two children had been left 
alone. They saw a strange sight indeed. Poor Iphicles 
was found half dead with fright in a corner ; and no 
wonder, for Hercules was being attacked by two huge 
serpents which were trying to crush him to death in 
their coils. But so far from being frightened, Hercules 
had got one of his baby hands round the neck of each 
serpent right and left; and so he quietly throttled them 
till they lay dead upon the floor. And this at only 
eight months old ^ 

His strength grew with him till it became a marvel 
like that of Samson among the children of Israel, and 
in bulk and stature also he towered over all other men. 
Like many who are large and strong, he was grave and 
somewhat silent, using, when he spoke, hut few words, 
not easily moved either to action or to anger, but, when 
once roused, then roused indeed. One seems to think 
of him as of some great lion. As for training, he had 
the best that could be given him. Castor taught him 
how to use the sword ; Pollux, how to use his flsts ; 
Eurytus, the finest archer in the world, taught him to 
shoot ; Aut51ycus, to ride and drive. Nor were accom- 
plishments forgotten ; for Linus, the brother and pupil 
of Orpheus, taught him to play the lyre, and Eumolpus 
to sing. Finally, he was sent to finish his education 


THE ORACLE. 


213 


under Chiron, the Centaur, who had taught Jason, and 
indeed nearly all the heroes of that age. 

At eighteen he was already famous for his strength, 
his accomplishments, and his promise of a great career. 
But he was far from perfect in other ways. One finds 
nothing of the knightliness of his great-grandfather 
Perseus, or of Theseus, in this strong young giant full 
of pride and passion, feeling himself already greater 
than the best of his fellow-creatures, and looking upon 
the world as if it were made for him alone. He would 
allow of no opposition to his least desire ; he did not 
desire glory so much as power. Good-tempered as he 
mostly was, it was not safe to provoke him, as Linus, 
his music-master, found, who had his own lyre broken 
upon his head for presuming to correct his pupil a little 
too sharply. 

Hercules now began to think of adventures worthy 
of his strength, and presently, as if to give him one, a 
lion came forth from the forests of Mount Cithseron, 
and ravaged the lands of Thespius, a neighboring king. 
To hunt and kill it unaided was child’s-play to Hercules. 
And other services he did to the country, of small 
account in his own eyes hut great in those of others ; 
so that Creon, who was then King of Thebes, gave him 
his daughter in marriage, and made him his viceroy. 

But Nicippe’s son, Eurystheus, now king of Argos 
and Mycenae, remembered that he had a right to his 


214 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


younger cousin’s services by the oath of Jupiter. So 
Eurystheus sent a message to Hercules, commanding 
him to come forthwith to Mycenge, and become the 
king’s servant there. 

Hercules, as may well be supposed, haughtily refused 
to obey this insolent order. Why should he, the ruler 
of Thebes, already the most famous man in all Greece, 
as well as the strongest, make a sort of slave of himself 
to a kinsman whom he scorned? For Eurystheus was 
just a commonplace person, with even less than common 
courage, who only wanted to feed his own vanity by 
having in his service such a man as Hercules to do 
whatever he bade. “ Hercules may be master of Greece ; 
but I am master of Hercules,” was the sort of boast 
that ran in his mind. ‘ 

I have said it was not strange that Hercules flatly 
refused to go to Mycenge at his cousin’s bidding. But 
it was more than strange that, from this moment, he 
began to fall into so strange a state of mind that any 
one would think he was being haunted by the Furies, 
until he, the pride of Thebes and the hope of Greece, 
became a dangerous madman, whom none dared approach 
for fear of being slain. And all the time his strength 
still increased ; so that it seemed as if he had come into 
the world to be a terror and a curse to mankind. 

Many dreadful things he did in his madness. And 
when at length the frenzy passed from him, he was left 


THE OEACLE. 


215 


in a more dreadful condition still. He was in an agony 
of remorse for all the violence he had done, and believed 
himself to be accursed and an outcast from his fellow- 
men. M ejanchol v and despairing, he fled from Thebes, 
and wandered out alone among the forests and the 
mountains. And thus he lived like a savage, hiding 
himself away from the sight of men. 

The time came when he thought he could bear life 
no longer. He felt as if he were hunted by demons, 
and with the scourges of Hades. In his last despair 
he wandered to Delphi, in whose temple Apollo’s oracle, 
or living voice, was heard ; and implored the gods to 
tell him what he should do. 

And the voice of Apollo answered him and said: — 

“ O Hercules ! those things were not sins which you 
did in your madness. Your madness is not sin, but the 
punishment for your real sin — the sin of pride, and 
self-love, and defiance of the will of Heaven. In 
rebelling against Eurystheus, you have rebelled against 
the gods, .who decreed even before your birth that he 
should rule and you should serve. Is it not so, always ? 
are not oftentimes the good made subject to the wicked, 
the wise to the foolish, the strong and valiant to the 
weak and craven ? This is the oracle — the gods give 
each man his own different place and work : to you 
they have appointed service — therefore Obey. Seek 
not to know why this should be, nor question the 


216 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


justice of the gods. Know your duty, and do it with 
your might ; and so you will he great enough ; for no 
man can do more than serve the gods with such strength 
as they have given him.” 

For long Hercules stood before the altar, doing battle 
with his pride. Then, at last, he took the road to 
Mycenae. And as he went, each step became quicker, 
his heart grew lighter, the shadow left his soul, and his 
peace of mind returned. 


PART II.— HIS FIRST LABOR: THE LIOH. 



ERCULES, being arrived at Mycenae, submitted 


himself to Eurystheus, who, to tell the truth, was 
a little alarmed at the sight of his cousin, and suspicious 
of what such sudden submission might mean. And he 
was all the more bewildered when he saw the huisdity 
with which his kin^an approached him. Hercules 
could not do anything by halves ; and in Eurystheus 
he saw, not a mere insignificant, timid, mean-minded 
man, but only the master whom the gods had appointed 
to him. 

“And now,” -asked Hercules, in his impatience to 
prove his obedience, “what do you order me to do? ” 
One would think that Eurystheus would have acted 
generously. So far from that, however, he thought to 
himself, “ I had better send him on the most dangerous 
adventure I can think of. If he succeeds, it will be the 
more glory for me to have such a man under my power ; 
and besides, it will prove whether this submission is 
real or shajn. And if he perishes — well, I shall be 
safe from danger at his hands.” So he said : — 

“ You have proved yourself a ^ood lion-hunter. 
Bring me the carcass of the Nemsean lion.” 


218 


THE HERO OP HEROES. 


Now the lion of the forest of Nemsea was far more 
terrible than the lion of Mount Cithseron. ' However, 
Hercules set out at once for the forest, glad that his 
first service was one of honor. 

Eurystheus was quite relieved when he was gone ; 
and, sending for skilled workmen, bade them make for 
him a large brazen pot, big enough to hold him comfort- 
ably, and with an opening just large enough for him to 
get in and out by. For he thought to himself, “If 
Hercules ever gets angry or rebellious, I can creep into 
my brazen pot, and be safe there.” 

Hercules was not long in finding the lion — the 
largest, strongest, and fiercest ever seen in the world. 
He let fly an arrow, but it scarcely pricked . the beast’s 
tough hide ; then another, and another ; but the lion 
minded them no more than if they had been shot by a 
child from a toy bow. At last one, however, pricked 
him sharply enough to enrage him, and he ^ came on 
with a rush and a roar. All Hercules had tJ^ to do 
was to pull 'iip a young oak-tree by the roots, for a 
weapon to meet the charge. The next moment the 
lion sprang. But Hercules stood his ground, and so 
belabored the lion with his club that he fairly beat it 
back into its den, into which he followed H. Then was 
there a fearful wrestle between Hercules and the lion. 
But Hercules prevailed, by getting his arms round the 
lion and crushing its breath out of its body. 


HIS FIRST LABOR : THE LION. 


219 



to Mycenae. Thus equipped, he himself looked like 
some monstrous lion ; and so terrified was Eurystheus 
at the news that he crept into his brass pot, and in this 
manner received Hercules, to whom he talked through 
a speaking-tube in the side. 

‘‘ Go and kill the Hydra ! ” he called out. 

So Hercules set out on his second labor : and Eurys- 
theus crept out of his pot again. 




PART III. — HIS SECOHD LABOR: THE HYDRA. 


OW the Hydra was more formidable than the lion 



— nobody in his senses would dream of attacking 
it with the least hope of succeeding. It was a huge 
water-snake which lived in Lake Lerna, whence it 
used to issue to seek for human food. It had a 
hundred heads, and from each of its hundred mouths 
darted a forked tongue of flame, dripping with deadly 


poison. 


I said that nobody in his senses would attack the 
Hydra. But I was not quite right. There was just 
one sense which would lead a man to attack any evil, 
even without hope — of course I mean the sense of 
Duty. And it was in that sense that Hercules set 
forth for Lake Lerna. But he did not go to work with- 
out ample forethought, and taking all the precautions 
he could think of. He remembered the thickness and 
toughness of the Nemsean lion’s skin ; so he had it 
made into a sort of cloak, which served him for armor 
better than brass or steel. He also made the young 
oak-tree into a regular club, which thenceforth became 
his favorite weapon. And instead of going alone, he 


HIS SECOND LABOR: THE HYDRA. 


221 


took with him his friend and kinsman lolas, to 
act as his squire. You may always know Hercules 
in pictures and statues by his knotted club and his 
lion-skin. 

It was easy enough to find the Hydra — only too 
easy. It had its nest in a foul stagnant swamp, the air 
of which its breath turned to poison. Giving lolas his 
other arms to hold, Hercules attacked the Hydi-a with his 
club alone, trusting to his lion-skin to receive the strokes 
of the creature’s fangs. With a tremendous blow 
he crushed one of the Hydra’s hundred heads, leaving 
ninety-nine more to destroy if he could hold out so 
long. That was bad enough to think of — but, to his 
dismay, out of the crushed head sprang two new living 
heads : and out of each of these, when he beat them to 
pieces, sprang forth two more. And so it was with 
every head the Hydra had : so that, in truth, the more 
Hercules destroyed it, the stronger it grew — its hun- 
dred heads were rapidly becoming a thousand ; and the 
thousand would become ten thousand ; and so on, for- 
ever. 

Just as Hercules realized the hopelessness of the 
labor, and was finding it work enough to ward off 
the innumerable fangs, a wretched crab crawled 
out of the ooze and seized him by the foot, so that 
he almost fainted with the sudden pain. It was too 


222 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


cruel, in the midst of such a battle as that, to feel 
himself at the mercy of the miserable vermin of the 
slime. 

However, he crushed the crab under his heel, and, 
ceasing to multiply his enemies by killing them, con- 
tented himself with defense, while he thought what 
could possibly be done. 

“No doubt those first hundred heads must all have 
come from some one head,” thought he. “ They could 
not grow like that without a root ; so that if I could 
only destroy the root they would cease to grow. This 
is my mistake : I am fighting only with what I see, 
instead of going to the root of things, and attacking the 
evil there.” 

So he called out to Tolas to heat a piece of iron red- 
hot ; and when this was ready, to stand by, and to 
scorch with it the place of every head which the club 
shattered. The plan answered wonderfully. Hercules 
crushed head after head ; Tolas applied the red-hot 
iron ; and so root after root was burned up and perished. 
And at last they came to the root of all the heads ; 
and when this was reached and burned, the monster 
sputtered and died, just when Hercules felt that he, 
strong as he was, could scarce have struck another 
blow. 

Hercules cut open the Hydra, and dipped his arrows 
in its gall, so that they should give deadly wounds. 


HIS SECOND LABOR : THE HYDRA. 


223 


Wearily he returned to Mycense, hoping for a little 
rest. But Eurystheus had hidden himself in his brazen 
pot again, whence he cried out : — 

“Be off at once ; and catch the stag of CEnoe 
alive ! ” 


l, 'In- I 

Ji.C ti 


n 


PART IV. — HIS THIRD LABOR: THE STAG. 


rriHE stag of CE a qo was sacred to Diana ; and no 
^ wonder, for besides being so swift that no hoi-se 
or hound could follow it, it had brazen feet and horns 
of pure gold. Of course this labor was not so danger- 
ous as the others, but apparently more utterly impossible. 

Impossible as it was, however, Hercules had to try. 
Had he been ordered to bring the stag to Mycenae dead, 
he might perhaps hope to catch it with an arrow ; but 
his orders were to bring it alive. So, having started it 
from its lair, he followed it with his utmost speed and 
skill. At first he tried to run it down ; but the stag 
was not only the swifter, but had as much endurance 
as he. Then he tried to drive it to bay, but it always 
managed to escape out of the seemingly most hopeless 
corners. He tried to catch it asleep ; but his slightest 
and most distant movement startled it, and off it raced 
again. All the arts of the deer-stalker he put in 
practice, but all in vain. And thus he hunted the stag 
of (Enoe, scarce resting day and night for a whole year. 
It looked as if he were to spend the rest of his life in 
pursuing what was not to be caught by mortal man ; 


HIS THIRD LABOR : THE STAG. 


225 


and the worst of it was that, while there was real use in 
destroying wild beasts and monsters, like the lion and 
the Hydra, his present labor, even if it succeeded, would 
he of no use at all. 

Still it had to be attempted ; and I suppose you have 
guessed that he succeeded, and that it was in some 
wonderful way. W ell — he did succeed at last, but it 
was not in a wonderful way at all. It was just by not 
giving in. One of the two had to give in, and it was 
not Hercules. One day he managed to drive the stag 
into a trap and to seize it by the horns. 

As he was returning to Mycense, dragging the stag, 
he met a tall and beautiful woman, dressed for the 
chase, and carrying a bow and quiver. As soon as her 
eyes fell upon the struggling stag she frowned terribly. 

“ What mortal are you,” she asked, “ who have dared 
to lay hands on my own stag, the stag sacred to me, 
who am Diana ? Loose it, and let it go.” 

Hercules sighed. “ I would do so gladly, great god- 
dess,” he answered ; “ but it is not in my power.” 

“ Not in your power to open your hand? ” she asked, 
in angry surprise. “We will soon see that,” and she 
seized her stag by the other horn to pull it away. 

“ It goes against me,” said Hercules, “ to oppose a 
goddess ; but I have got to bring this stag to Mycenae, 
and neither gods nor men shall prevent me, so long as 
I am alive.” 


226 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


“I am Diana,” she said again, “and I command you 
to let the stag go.” 

“ And I,” said he, “ am only Hercules, the servant of 
Eurystheus, and therefore I cannot let it go.” 

“ Then I wish,” said Diana, “ that any of the gods 
had so faithful a servant as Eurystheus has ! So you 
are Hercules ? ” she said, her frown changing to a smile. 
“ Then I give you the stag, for the sake of the oracle 
of my brother Apollo. I am only a goddess ; you are 
a man who has conquered himself, and whom therefore 
even the gods must obey.” 

So saying, she vanished. And the stag no longer 
struggled for freedom, but followed Hercules to Mycenae 
as gently and lovingly as a tame fawn. 


PART V. — HIS FOURTH LABOR: THE BOAR. 


rj^HE chase of the stag with the golden horns had 
taken so long that Eurystheus was beginning to 
give Hercules up for lost : and he was not sorry, for he 
was becoming more and more afraid of the man who 
only lived to do his bidding. lie could not but think 
that his cousin must be playing some deep and under- 
hand game. So when Hercules came back, with the 
stag following tamely at heel, he hid himself again, and 
by way of welcome bade Hercules capture and bring 
him, alive, a very different sort of wild beast — not a 
harmless stag, but the great and fierce wild boar which 
had its den in the mountains of Erymanthus, and 
ravaged the country round. 

Hercules was getting weary of these labors, to which 
he saw no end. Not for a moment did he think of 
disobeying, but he set out with a heavy heart, and with 
some rising bitterness against his taskmaster. His way 
to the mountains of Erymanthus lay through the coun- 
try of the Centaurs, and of his old teacher, Chiron. 

Here he halted at the dwelling of one of the Cen- 
taurs, Pholus, who received him kindly. But Hercules 


228 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


was feeling fairly worn out in spirit, and Pholus failed 
to cheer him. 

“What is the use of it all?” he complained. “No 
doubt the gods are just, and ought to be obeyed ; but 
they are not kind. Why did they send me into the 
world, and give me strength, only to go about after 
wild beasts at the bidding of a coward ? Why did they 
give me passions, only to have the trouble of keeping 
them down ? If I had been like other men — as weak 
and as cold-blooded as they are — I should have been 
happy, and perhaps done some real good, and at any 
rate lived my own life in my own way. It isn’t as if I 
cared for glory, but I do want a little peace and pleas- 
ure. Come, Pholus, let me have some wine : I want it, 
and let it be in plenty ! ” 

“ I am very sorry,” said Pholus. “ I have no wine.” 

“ Why, what is that, then? ” asked Hercules, pointing 
to a big barrel in the corner. 

“ That is wine,” said Pholus ; “ hut I can’t give you 
any of it, because it is not my own. It belongs to all 
the Centaurs ; and, as it is public property, nobody may 
take any of it without the leave of the whole tribe.” 

“Nonsense!” said Hercules. “Wine I want, and 
wine I’ll have.” 

So saying, he stove in the head of the cask with a 
single blow of his fist, and, dipping and filling a goblet, 
began to drink eagerly. 


HIS FOIJTITH LABOR : THE BOAR. 


229 


The wine soon began to warm his blood and raise his 
heart. After the first cup or two, the cloud which had 
been falling over him rolled away, and life again seemed 
worth living for its own sake, and not only for duty’s. 
But he did not stop at two cups, nor at three ; nor even 
when it began to mount into his brain, and to bring 
back those wild instincts which he thought he had left 
behind him in the Temple of Apollo. 

Meanwhile the news had spread among the Centaurs 
that Hercules was among them, and making free with 
the public wine. The odor of the broken cask brought 
a crowd of them at full gallop, and disturbed Hercules 
in the midst of his carouse. 

“Do you call this hospitality, you savages ? ” he 
shouted, stumbling out of the house, and laying about 
him with his club freely among the crowd, while Pholus 
vainly tried to prevent mischief. Down went Centaur 
after Centaur, till those who were uninjured galloped 
away panic-stricken, Pholus himself being among the 
slain. 

“ To Chiron ! ” cried the Centaurs ; “he will know 
how to deal with this madman.” 

They rode as hard as they could to Chiron’s dwell- 
ing, Hercules, furious with wine and anger, still 
pursuing. As they were outstripping him, he let fly 
his arrows among them ; and, as evil luck would have 
it, at that very moment Chiron rode out from his gate 


230 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


to see what was happening, and to quiet the disorder, 
and one of the arrows struck him in the knee, and he 
fell. / 

Hercules became sober enough when he came up and 
found his old friend and teacher writhing in terrible 
agony ; for the arrow was one which he had dipped in 
the deadly poison of the Hydra. He could only look 
on with remorse. Chiron knew him, and, when the 
agony passed away into death, gave him a look of 
forgiveness. What the wise Centaur’s last word to his 
favorite pupil was, I know not ; but I think it must 
have been something like : “ Let him that thinketh he 
standeth take heed lest he fall.” 

I will not try to think of what Hercules felt when he 
watched the burial of the friends whom he had slain in 
a fit of drunken passion, for no cause. However, his 
duty lay still before him, and it had become more clear. 
Neve^ again Avould he complain of his fate, or question 
the justice of the gods, or think of the life which had 
been lent to him as if it were his own. 

In due time, after a long and dangerous journey 
among the mountains, he came upon the den of the 
great wild boar which he was to capture alive. There 
was nothing to be done hut to follow it as he had 
followed the stag, watching for a chance of trapping it 
unawares : and in the pursuit another whole year 


HIS FOURTH LABOR: THE BOAR. 


231 


passed away. Then, in the middle of winter, there fell 
such a snow that the boar was unable to leave its den. 
Hercules forced his way through the snowed-up 
entrance, and tried to seize the brute as he had seized 
the Nemsean lion. The boar, however, rushed past 
him, and would have escaped again had not the snow 
hindered his running, and at last exhausted him. 
Hercules, though nearly exhausted himself, chose the 
right moment for closing with him, and, after a long 
struggle, bound him with a halter in such a manner 
that, in spite of its efforts, he could drag it by main 
strength down the mountain. 

Once more Eurystheus had given Hercules up for 
lost : and the snow prevented him from hearing any 
news beforehand. So when, while he was standing at 
the city gate, there suddenly appeared before him, not 
only Hercules — all grim and rough from his year’s hunt- 
ing — but the largest and most savage wild boar in the 
world, looking ready to devour him, he was so terrified 
that he whisked like a frightened mouse into his pot, 
and did not dare come out again for seven days. 

As for Chiron the Centaur, he became a constellation 
in heaven, where he is still to be seen. He was the 
teacher of nearly all the heroes and demi-gods : and 
after his death there seems to have been an end of 
them. There have been plenty of brave men since ; 


232 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


but not like Castor and Pollux, Perseus, Theseus, and 
Hercules. Nor, since that fatal day, does one hear of 
the Centaurs any more. Thus did one passing fit of 
causeless anger, instantly repented of, destroy these 
wisest and most valiant creatures, and deprive the 
whole world of more than it has ever regained during 
thousands of years. 

Hercules solemnly sacrificed the boar, and then took 
a little rest, meditating on all that had befallen. But 
his rest was not to be for long. For there was Eurys- 
theus in his pot, trying to think of something that 
should keep him occupied forever. 

And — “I have it ! ” he exclaimed at last, summon- 
ing Hercules by a stroke on his pot’s brazen side. 


PART VI. — HIS FIFTH LABOR: THE AUGEAH 
STABLE. 


rriHE next labor which Eurystheus laid upon Her- 
cules was to clean out a stable. 

That does not sound very much 
But then the stable was that of Au^eas, King of Elis, 
which was at once the largest and the dirtiest in the 
whole world. 

Augeas had a prodi^ous number of oxen and goats, 
and the stable in which they were all kept had never 
been cleaned. The result was a mountain of filth and 
litter, which not even Hercules could clear away in a 
lifetime — not, of course, from want of strength, but 
from want of time. Hercules beheld with disgust and 
dismay the loathsome and degrading toil in which he 
was to spend the rest of his days. The other labors 
had at least been honorable, and befitting a prince : this 
would have appalled a scavenger. 

“ It is very good of such a hero as you,” said Augeas, 
‘‘ to undertake to clean my stable. It really does want 
cleaning, as you see : and it was very kind of Eurys- 
theus to think of it. You shall not find me ungrateful. 


a|ter the others. 


234 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


I will give you one ox and one goat in every ten — 
when the job is done.” 

He could very safely promise this, because he knew 
that the job could never be done. 

“ I am not serving for hire,” said Hercules. “ Never- 
theless it is only right that you should not let your 
stable get into such a state as this, and then get it put 
right for nothing. You want a lesson : and you shall 
have it, too.” 

Seeing that mere strength would be wasted in such 
toil, Hercules went to work with his brain as well. 
Through the land of Elis ran the river Alpheus, that 
same Alpheus which had told Ceres what had become 
of Proserpine. Hercules carefully studied the country ; 
and having laid his plans, dug a channel from near the 
source of the river to one of the entrances of the stable. 
Then, damming up the old channel, he let the stream 
run into the new. The new course was purposely made 
narrow, so that the current might be exceedingly strong. 
When all was ready, he opened the sluice at one 
entrance of the stable, so that the water poured in a 
flood through the whole building, and out at a gate on 
the other side. And it had all -been so managed that 
when the river had poured through, and was shut off 
again, all the filth and litter had been carried away by 
the Alpheus underground, and the stable had been 
washed clean, without a scrap of refuse to be found 


HIS FIFTH LABOR: THE AUGEAN STABLE. 235 


anywhere. For the Alpl ^gus . yon must know, did not 
run into the sea, like other rivers. It disappeared 
down a deep chasm, then ran through a natural tunnel 
under the sea, and rose again, far away, in the island 
of Sicily, where it had brought to Ceres the news 
from underground. Thus everything thrown into it 
in Elis came up again in Sicily — and the Sicilians 
must have been considerably astonished at that ex- 
trao rdinary j eruption of stable litter. Perhaps it is 
that which, acting as manure, has helped to make 
Sicily so fertile. 

Hercules made a point of claiming his price. But 
Augeas said : — 

“ Nonsense ! A bargain .is a bargain. You under- 
took to clean my stable : and you have done nothing of 
the kind. No work, no i)ay.” 

“ What can you mean ? ” iisked Hercules. “ Surely 
I have cleaned your stable — you will not find in it a 
broken straw.” 

“ No,” said Augeas. “ It was the Alpheus did that : 
not you.” 

“ But it was I who used the Alpheus — ” 

“ Yes ; no doubt. But the impudence of expecting 
me to pay a tenth of all my flocks and herds for an idea 
so simple that I should have thought of it myself, if 
you hadn’t, just by chance, happened to think of it 
before me ! You have not earned your wages. You 


236 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


cleaned the stable by an unfair trick : and it was the 
river cleaned it — not you.” 

“Very well,” said Hercules, grimly. “If you had 
paid me honestly, I would have given you your goats 
and your oxen hack again ; for, as I told you, I do not 
serve for reward. But now I perceive that I have not 
quite cleaned your stable. There is still one piece of 
dirt left in it — and that is a cheating knave, Augeas 
by name. So, as I cannot go back to Myceme till my 
work is done — ” 

He was about to throw Augeas into the river, to 
follow the rest of the litter : and about what afterwards 
happened, different people tell different things. I very 
strongly agree, however, with those who tell that Her- 
cules spared the life of Augeas after having given him 
a lesson : for certainly he was not worth the killing. 
And I am the more sure of this because, after his death, 
Augeas was honored as hero — which surely would not 
have happened if he had not learned to keep both his 
stables and his promises clean before he died. 


PART VII. — MORE LABORS: AND THE CATTLE 
OF OERYOH. 


“PpURYSTHEUS was getting to his wits’ end for 
work which should keep his cousin employed. 
He sent him to kill the man-eating birds of Lake 
Stymphalus ; to catch, and bring to Mycenae alive, a 
wild hull which was devastating Crete ; to obtain for 
Eurystheus the famous mares which fed on human 
flesh, and belonged to the Thracian King Diomedes, 
who used to throw men and women alive into their 
manger. In three years’ time Hercules destroyed all 
the birds, and brought to Mycenae both the bull and the 
mares, to whom he had given the body of their master. 

These were the sixth, seventh, and eighth labors, 
which had taken eight years. The ninth was of a 
different kind. There lived in the country of Cappa- 
docia, which is in Asia, a nation of women, without 
any men among them. They were called the Amazons, 
and were famous for their skill in hunting, and for 
their fierceness and courage in war, conquering the 
neighboring nations far and wide. Their queen at this 
time was Hippolyta ; and Eurystheus bade Hercules 


238 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


bring him Queen Hippolyta’s girdle. Perhaps he thought 
that a strong man would be ashamed to put out his 
strength against a woman. If so, however, he reckoned 
wrongly. Hercules had to do his work, whether man 
or woman stood in the way ; and he won the queen’s 
girdle in fair fight, without harming the queen. 

“ I must send Hercules to the very end of the earth,” 
thought poor Eurystheus, who grew more and more 
frightened by every new success of his cousin. So he 
inquired diligently of every traveler who came to 
Mycense, and in time had the good luck to hear of a 
suitable monster named Geryon, who lived in a cave at 
Gades, now called Cadiz, on the coast of Spain, very near 
indeed to what the Greeks then thought to be the end 
of the world. Geryon, so the travelers reported, had 
three bodies and three heads, and kept large and valua- 
ble flocks and herds. “ That will be just the thing for 
Hercules ! ” thought Eurystheus. So he called from 
his brazen pot — 

“ Go to Gades, and get me the cattle and the sheep 
of Geryon.” 

So Hercules set off for Spain by way of Egypt and 
that great Libyan desert through which Perseus had 
passed on his adventure against the Gorgons. It was 
an unfortunate way to take, for there reigned over 
Egypt at that time King Busiris, who had made a law 
that every foreigner entering the country should be 


MORE LABORS. 


239 


sacrified to Jupiter. Hercules, knowing nothing of 
this law, was taken hy surprise as soon as he landed, 
overpowered by numbers, bound in iron chains, and 
laid upon the altar to be slain. But scarcely had the 
sacrificing priest raised his knife when Hercules burst 
the chains, and, being no longer taken at disadvantage, 
made a sacrifice of Busiris and his ministers, thus free- 
ing the land of Egypt from a foolish and cruel law. 

Thence he passed into the great desert, and traveled 
on until one day he reached a pile of human skulls, 
nearly as big as a mountain. While wondering at the 
sight, a shadow fell over him, and a big voice said — 

“ Yes, you may well look at that ! I have nearly 
enough now.” 

It was a giant, nearly as high as the heap of skulls. 
“ And who are you ? ” asked Hercules ; “ and what are 
these ? ” 

“ I am Antaeus,” answered the giant ; “and the Sea 
is my father and the Earth is my mother. I am collect- 
ing skulls in order to build a temple with them upon 
my mother the Earth to my father the Sea.” 

“ And how,” asked Hercules, “ have you managed to 
get so many ? ” 

“ By killing everybody I see, and adding his skull to 
the heap — as I am going to add youm.” 

So saying, he seized Hercules to make an end of him. 
And amazed enough the giant was when he himself 


240 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


was dashed to the ground with force enough to break 
any ordinary bones. 

Antaeus, however, though astonished, was not in the 
least hurt ; so that it was the turn of Hercules to be 
surprised. Again they closed, and again Hercules threw 
him, with still greater strength ; and they closed again. 

And again and again Hercules threw him, but every 
time with greater difficulty. The more he was thrown, 
the stronger the giant became ; he rose from every fall 
fresher than before. Plainly, if this went on, Antaeus 
would be beaten until he became stronger than Her- 
cules, and would end by winning. 

It seemed very strange that the more a man was 
dashed to the ground the fresher and stronger he 
should grow. But — 

“ I see ! ” thought Hercules to himself. “ This giant 
is the son of the Earth ; so whenever he falls, it is upon 
the bosom of his own mother, who strengthens and 
refreshes her son. So I must take another way.” 

So thinking, he put out all his strength, and again 
lifted Antaeus in his arms. But this time he did not 
dash him to the Earth ; he held him in the air, and 
crushed him to death between his hands. 

After this he traveled on, without further adventure, 
until he reached the far western end of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, which was thought to be the end of the 
world. If you happen to look at a map you will easily 


MOKE LABOKS. 


241 


find the exact place — it is where the south of Spain 
very nearly touches Africa. When Hercules arrived 
there, Spain quite touched Africa, so that one might 
walk from one into the other. It is said that Hercules 
himself opened out the narrow passage which lets the 
Mediterranean Sea out into the great ocean, so that 
ships could afterwards sail to Britain and all over the 
world. That passage is now called the Strait of 
Gibraltar. But the rock of Gibraltar in Spain, and the 
opposite rock in Africa, between which the Strait flows, 
are still often called the “ Pillars of Hercules.” 

To get from there to Gades was no great distance ; 
and to kill the monstrous ogre Geryon and to seize his 
flocks and herds for Eurystheus was no great feat after 
what he had already done. But to drive such a number 
of sheep and cattle all the way from Gades in Spain to 
Mycenge in Greece was not an easy matter. There was 
only one way of doing so without being stopped some- 
where by the sea, and this, as a map will show at once, 
is by crossing those two great mountain-ranges, the 
Pyrenees and the Alps — and for one man to drive 
thousands of sheep and thousands of horned cattle over 
such mountains as those was the most tiresome and 
troublesome labor that Hercules had ever undergone. 

He got as far as Italy without the loss of a single 
sheep or cow, and was thinking that he saw the end of 
his trouble. One morning, however, having counted 


242 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


the cattle as usual, and having gone some miles upon 
his day's journey, he became aware that there was 
something wrong. The sheep began to bleat and the 
cattle to bellow in an odd and excited way. And 
frequently, from behind him, he heard an answering 
sound which at first he took for an echo. But no, it 
could not be that, for an echo would have repeated the 
bleating as well as the bellowing, and what he heard 
behind him was the sound of bellowing only — pre- 
cisely like that of Geryon’s cows. He counted the 
herd over again, and, though he was convinced that 
it was all right at starting, he found a full dozen 
missing. 

Now a dozen was not much to lose out of thousands. 
But he had been ordered to bring back the whole herd, 
and he would have felt that he would not have done 
his duty if he, by any neglect or laziness of his own, 
lost even one lamb by the way. So, following the 
distant sound, he, with infinite labor, drove his cattle 
back across the hills, league after league, till he reached 
a huge black cavern, the mouth of which was strewn 
and heaped with human bones. His cattle became 
more excited and more restive, for the sound he was 
following evidently came from within the cave. 

He was about to enter and search when a three- 
headed ogre issued, whose three mouths, when he 
opened them to speak, breathed smoke and flames. 


MORE LABORS. 


243 


“ This is my cave,” said he, with all three mouths at 
once ; “ and no man shall enter it but I.” 

“I only want my cattle,” said Hercules. “Bring 
them out to me.” 

“ Cattle ? ” asked the ogre. “ There are no cattle 
here. I swear it by the head of my mother.” 

“ And who was she,” asked Hercules, “ that her head 
is an oath to swear by ? ” 

“I am Cacus, the son of the Gorgon Medusa,” 
answered the ogre, “and I swear ” 

But before he could finish his oath, there came such 
a bellowing from within the cave that the very cattle 
seemed as if they could not endure such falsehood, and 
were proclaiming that Cacus lied. 

“ I am sorry,” said Hercules. “ I am weary of travel- 
ing, and of monsters, and of giants, and of ogres, and 
of liars, and of thieves. I really do not want to kill 
any more. You are not one of my labors, and I have 
had enough trouble. Still, if you had as many heads 
as the Hydra and as many arms as Briareus, I should 
have to fight you rather than lose one of the cattle I 
was bidden to bring.” 

Cacus laughed. “Do you see those bones?” he 
asked. “ They are all that is left of people who have 
looked for what they have lost in my cave.” 

“ Then,” said Hercules, “ either you shall add mine 
to the heap, or I will add yours.” 


244 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


And presently the bones of Cacus the Robber were 
added to the heap, and Hercules, having got his cattle 
back, at last reached Mycenae. 

Enrystheus almost forgot to be frightened in his 
joy at becoming the owner of such flocks and herds. 
He listened with interest to the story of his cousin’s 
travels, and, having heard it to an end, said — 

“ So you crossed the great Libyan desert until you 
reached the ocean which surrounds the world? Why, 
then, you must have found the way to the gardens of 
the Hesperides — the gardens of golden fruit which the 
great sleepless dragon guards, and which our forefather 
Perseus saw when he turned Atlas into stone. Did 
you also see those gardens ? ” 

“ No,” said Hercules. 

“Then,” said Enrystheus, “go and see them at once. 
Go and bring me some of the Golden Apples — as many 
as you can.” 


PART VIII. — HIS ELEVENTH LABOR: THE 
HARDEN OF THE HESPERIDES. 


Q10 Hercules, without being allowed any time for 
rest, had to go back the whole way he had come, 
without any certain knowledge of where the golden- 
fruited gardens of the Hesperides were to be found, 
except that it was somewhere in Africa. Somebody 
must know, however, or else the gardens would never 
have been heard of, for travelers never told anything 
but the truth in those days. He therefore diligently 
asked everybody he met where the gardens were to be 
found, and, among others, some nymphs whom he met 
on the banks of the river Po, while he was passing 
through Italy. 

“We cannot tell you,” said they; “but we know 
who can — old Nereus, the sea-god, if you can only get 
him to tell.” 

“And why should he not tell?” asked Hercules. 

“ Because he never will tell anybody anything, unless 
he is obliged.” 

“ And how is he to be obliged ? ” asked Hercules 


again. 


246 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


“He is bound to answer anybody who is stronger 
than he.” 

“Well, I am pretty strong,” said Hercules, modestly. 
“ Anyhow, I can but try.” 

“ Yes, you do look strong,” said the nymphs ; 

“ but ” Here they broke into a laugh, as if some 

sort of a joke were in their minds. “Well, if you go 
to the iEgean Sea, where King JEgeus was drowned, 
you’ll be sure to find Nereus sleeping in the sun some- 
where along the shore.” 

“And how shall I know him when I see him?” asked 
Hercules. 

“ You will see a very, very old man, older than any- 
body you ever saw, with bright blue hair, and a very 
long white beard. He has fifty daughters, so he often 
gets tired, and likes to sleep as much as he can.” 

Hercules thanked the nymphs, whom he still heard 
laughing after he left them, and thought to himself 
that it would not be much trouble to prove himself 
stronger than a very old man who was always tired. 
So, having journeyed back again to the jEgean Sea, he 
walked along the shore till, sure enough, he saw, sound 
asleep in a ^unny cove, a man who looked a thousand 
years old, with a white beard reaching below his waist, 
and with hair as blue as the sea. 

“Will you kindly tell me the way to the gardens of 
the Hesperides?” asked Hercules, waking Nereus by a 


THE GARDEN OF THtil HESPERIDES. 


247 


gentle shake — though I expect one of Hercules’ shakes 
was not what most people would consider gentle. 

Instead of answering, Nereus tried to roll himself 
into the sea, at the bottom of which was his home. 
Hercules caught him by the leg and arm : when, to his 
amazement, Nereus suddenly turned into a vigorous 
young man, who wrestled with him stoutly to get 
away. • 

Hercules got him down at last. “Now tell me the 
way to the gardens of the Hesperides !” he panted — 
for he was out of breath with the struggle. But he 
found himself holding down, no longer a man, but a 
huge and slippery seal, which all but succeeded in 
plunging into the sea. 

But he held on until the seal also was exhausted. 
And then Hercules found out what had made the 
nymphs laugh so. For when the seal was wearied 
out it changed into a gigantic crab, the crab into a 
crocodile, the crocodile into a mermaid, the mermaid 
into a sea-serpent, the sea-serpent into an albatross, the 
albatross into an octopus, the octopus into a mass of 
sea- weed, which was the hardest to hold of all. But 
the sea-weed turnfed back into the old man again, who 
said : — 

“ There — you have conquered me in all my shapes ; 
I haven’t got any more. You may let me go now, and 
I will answer you. You must go on through Italy and 


248 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


Spain, and thence across into Africa. You will then 
be in the land of Mauritania. You must still go south, 
following the sea-shore, till you come to the giant 
Atlas, who supports the sky upon his head, and so 
keeps it from falling. He ” — the old sea-god’s voice 
was growing fainter and fainter — ‘‘he will tell you 
all about the gardens of the Hesperides. They’re close 
by — the gardens of the Hesp ” 

And so, having finished his answer, Nereus turned 
over and went comfortably to sleep again. 

Once more Hercules set out upon the journey which 
had seemed as if it would never even begin. Once 
more he traveled through Italy and Spain, and crossed 
into Africa over the strait which he himself had made. 
And on and on he went, always southward by the sea, 
till, full six hundred miles from the Pillars of Hercules, 
he saw what he knew must be the giant Atlas on whose 
head rested the sky. There Atlas, King of Mauritania, 
had stood ever since he had looked upon the head of 
Medusa. And if you wonder how the sky was held 
up before that time, you must ask Nereus, if you can 
catch him — not me. 

As you may suppose, the poor giant was terribly 
weary of having to hold up, night and day, year after 
year, the whole weight of the sun, moon, and stars. 
Even his strength is not able to keep stars from falling 


THE GARDEN OF THE HESPERIDES. 


249 


now and then — sometimes on a clear night you may 
see them tumbling down by scores, so it is terrible to 
think of what would happen if he took even a moment’s 
rest. The whole sky would come crashing down, and 
the universe would be in ruins. He was longing for 
the rest he dared not take, and so, when Hercules 
said to him, “I am seeking fruit from the gardens 
of the Hesperides,” a crafty idea came into the giant’s 
mind. 

“Ah ! ” said he, with a nod which shook down a 
whole shower of stars. “ There is no difficulty. All 
you have to do is walk through the sea towards the 
setting sun, till you get there. And there’s nothing 
to prevent you from getting the golden fruit but the 
dragon who guards the tree on which it grows. The 
sea doesn’t come up higher than my waist, even in the 
deepest part ; and, if you can get past the dragon, my 
three daughters, the Hesperides, will no doubt receive 
you with the greatest surprise.” 

For the first time, Hercules felt dismayed. He had 
no boat, nor the means of building one ; he could not 
swim further than his eyes could see. As for wading 
through an ocean that would come up to the waist of 
a giant as high as the skies, that was absurd. And as 
to the dragon, he remembered that Perseus had only 
passed it by means of a helmet which made its wearer 
invisible. 


250 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


Atlas saw his perplexity. 

“Ah, I forgot you were such a little fellow,” said 
the giant. “I’ll go and get you some of the fruit 
myself. It isn’t many of my steps from here to the 
garden, and the dragon knows me — and if he didn’t, 
I could step over him. And he couldn’t hurt me, 
seeing that I’ve been turned to stone. But wait, 
though — what on earth’s to become of the sky while 
I’m gone?” 

“ I’m pretty strong,” said Hercules. “ If I climb up 
to the peak of the next mountain to you, I daresay I 
could hold the sky up while you’re away.” 

Atlas smiled to himself, for this was just what he 
had intended. 

“ Come up, then,” said he. So Hercules clambered 
to the highest peak he could find, and Atlas, slowly 
bending, gradually and carefully let down the sky upon 
the head and shoulders of the hero. Then, heaving a 
deep roar of relief, he strode into the sea. 

It was surely the strangest plight in which a mortal 
ever found himself — standing on a mountain-peak, and, 
by the strength of his own shoulders, keeping the skies 
from falling. He was answerable for the safety of the 
whole world : the burden of the entire universe was 
laid upon the shoulders of one man. They were strong 
enough to bear it ; but it seemed like an eternity before 
Atlas returned. A hundred times a minute Hercules 


THE GARDEN OF THE HESPEEIDES. 


251 


felt as if he must let all go, whatever happened ; in- 
deed he was actually tempted to yield, for he was 
weary of these endless labors ; and it was only for 
mankind’s sake, and not for his own, that he held on 
through the agony of the crushing weight of the whole 
universe. 

But Atlas came at last, with three golden apples in 
his hand. 

“Here they are!” he roared. “And now, good- 
bye!” 

“ What ! ” exclaimed Hercules. “ Are you not com- 
ing back to your duty ? ” 

“Am I a fool?” asked the giant. “Not I. Keep 
the honor of holding up the skies yourself, since 
you are so strong and willing. Never again for 
me ! ” 

“At least, then,” said Hercules, “let me place my 
lion’s skin between my shoulders and the sky, so that 
the weight may be less painful to bear.” 

Atlas could take no objection to that, so he put his 
own shoulders under the dome of heaven to let Her- 
cules make himself as comfortable as the situation 
allowed. Hercules seized the chance, and let the whole 
weight of the sky fall upon the shoulders of Atlas once 
more. And there it still rests ; and thus Atlas failed 
in tr3dng to shift his own proper burden to another’s 
shoulders. 


252 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


‘‘ Only three apples ! ” exclaimed Eurystheus, when 
Hercules returned. “You can’t have taken much 
trouble, to get so little. Go to Hades, and bring me 
Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Pluto ! . . . He 
will never do that?” he thought to himself. “To 
reach Hades, one must die ! ” 


PART IX. — HIS TWELFTH LABOR: THE 
DESCENT INTO HADES. 


"T DARESAY you have forgotten — for it is a long 
way back — the name of Admetus, that King of 
Pherse in Thessaly, whom Apollo, when banished from 
heaven, served as a shepherd for nine years. Admetus 
did not know that it was a god whom he had to keep 
his sheep ; but he was so good and kind a master that 
Apollo, revealing himself at the end of his exile, bade 
him name any boon he desired, and it should be granted. 

There is no such difficult question in the world to 
answer as that. Admetus answered, “ Grant that I 
may never die.” 

But that is the one thing which not even the gods 
can grant to mortal men. The very cause of Apollo’s 
having been banished to earth was his killing the 
Cyclops for forging the thunderbolt with which Jupiter 
had killed Aesculapius for making dead men live again. 
Not even the Fates could change that law even for the 
sake of Apollo. But they said, “Admetus shall live 
so long as he can find somebody else to die instead of 
him whenever his death-time comes,” which was all 
they could allow. 


254 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


After the return of Apollo to heaven, Admetus lived 
on in great happiness and welfare. He was one of the 
Argonauts ; and he took part in the hunting of the 
Calydonian boar. He had fallen in love with Alcestis, 
the beautiful daughter of that King Pelias of whom 
you read in the story of the Golden Fleece, whose hand 
had been promised to the man who should come for her 
in a chariot drawn by a wild boar and a lion. This 
Admetus did ; and in this chariot he drove her back to 
his own kingdom of Pherae, where he made her his 
queen. And there they lived in great love and happi- 
ness for many years. 

But the day came at last which had been appointed 
to Admetus for his death-time. Then Admetus, 
remembering the promise of the Fates, and not able to 
bear losing the happiness of living, thus besought his 
old father, Pheres — 

“ Father, you are already old and near to death ; you 
have lived your life ; it matters nothing to you whether 
your old age lasts a year less or a year more. What 
you now call life is only weariness and pain. But I 
am still young and strong, with the best part of my life 
still unlived, and my children ungrown, and my king- 
dom to govern : I beseech you to die for me, so that I 
also may live to be as old and as wise as you.” 

But his father answered : “No, my son ; life is 
precious, even when one is old. The nearer Ave approach 


THE DESCENT INTO HADES. 


255 


the cold dark grave, the dearer grow the sunshine and 
the living air. I will do anything else for you, but 
not die.” 

Then Admetus besought Clymene, his mother — 

“ Mother, you are old and weak, and a woman ; I am 
young and strong, and a man. What is such life as 
yours compared with mine ? I beseech you to die for 
me ; let not a mother doom to death her own child.” 

But his mother answered: “No, my son; he who 
loves his life as you love it, and fears death as you 
fear it, is not one for whom even his mother ought 
to die.” 

Then Admetus besought all his friends and kinsmen ; 
but all were deaf to him. For well the Fates had 
known that their promise would be in vain. But at 
last his dear and beautiful wife Alcestis came to him, 
and said — 

“ I will die for you, and gladly ! ” Ah, those Fates 
do not know everything after all ! 

Admetus, with all his selfishness, had never thought 
of sacrificing his wife ; and he was overcome with 
horror. He prayed that Apollo’s gift might be taken 
back ; but the Fates are not to be played fast and loose 
with in that way, and they were angry perhaps at find- 
ing themselves baffled by a mere loving woman. 
Alcestis had to die instead of Admetus ; and so she 
died, as she had said, proudly and gladly. 


256 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


Now that it was too late, her husband was broken- 
hearted at having caused his wife’s death for the sake 
of what had been but a selfish whim. All he could do 
for her in return was honor her love and devotion by a 
splendid funeral, to which people came from far and 
near to cover her grave with fiowers. 

Alcestis was buried, and the farewell hymn was being 
sung, when there thrust his way, rather roughly, 
through the crowded temple a stranger of mighty build, 
carrying a club, and clad with a lion’s skin, seemingly 
the worse for wine. Admetus was too absorbed in his 
grief to notice this rude intrusion ; but some of the 
bystanders cried shame on the stra^nger, and one of the 
priests came in his way, and said sternly — 

“ Who are you that dare to trouble grief like 
ours?” 

“ Who am I ? Why, the servant of Eurystheus, 
King of Argos and Mycenae. Is this how you receive 
strangers in your land ? I had heard that Admetus of 
Pherae is the most generous of kings, and Alcestis the 
most gracious of queens ; and here I find you all like 
ghosts at a funeral. Where is the king? ” 

“ There stands the king,” said the priest, solemnly. 
And then he told the stranger the story which many a 
poet has told since — the story of how strong true love 
is, and how foolish it is to measure life by the number 
of its years. 


THE DESCENT INTO HADES. 


257 


Hercules — for he the stranger was — was sobered 
in a moment. “ It is a shame ! ” he exclaimed, bringing 
down his club on the floor. “ Fates or no fates, it shall 
not be ! I am bound to Hades on an errand for my 
own king, and I will not come back unless I do a better 
one for yours.” 

So, leaving them all offended at what they took for a 
drunken boast, he dropped into the open grave : the 
people only thinking that he had passed from the temple 
somewhat suddenly. Hence he followed the passage 
taken by the queen’s soul till he reached the Styx ; and 
hard work must poor old Charon have had to row 
across such a weight as Hercules instead of the ghosts 
to which he was accustomed. On he went, flnding his 
way as best he could without a guide, until, chancing 
upon the black gate of Tartarus, there growled in the 
middle of his path the three-headed dog Cerberus, with 
flashing eyes and flaming jaws. 

Orpheus, you remember, had quieted Cerberus with 
the music of his lute : Hercules, going to work in other 
fashion, brought down his club upon one of the dog’s 
skulls in a way that bewildered the other two. Then, 
seizing the monster by the throat, and in spite of its 
furious struggles, he fairly dragged it along with him 
by sheer strength, even into the very presence of Pluto 
and Proserpine. 

“And,” he cried, “god and goddess though you are. 


258 


THE HEKO OF HEROES. 


I will brain this dog of yours upon the steps of your 
throne unless you surrender to me the soul of Alcestis, 
that I may deliver her from death, and lead her back 
into life again.” 

It was an unheard-of thing that a man should thus 
take Hades by storm, and dictate terms to its king and 
queen. But for that moment I verily believe that 
Hercules became more than man — nay, more than 
Alcestis, because, while she had betaken herself to 
Elysium for the love of one who was dear to her, he had 
dared the torments of Tartarus out of pity for strangers 
and hate of wrong. Nay, I think it was truly this 
which had made his grip so fast on the dog’s throat, 
and his club so heavy on the dog’s three skulls ; and 
this that made a mortal stand as their master before 
even Pluto and Proserpine. 

“ In the name of all the gods,” said Pluto, “ take the 
woman, and begone.” 

Then Alcestis appeared — a mere gray shade, the 
touch of whose hand was but like a film of gossamer. 
But as he dragged the less and less struggling Cerberus 
with one hand, and led her with the other, her shade 
took color and formed, and her fingers tightened upon 
his, until the living Alcestis, more beautiful than before, 
stepped with him out of her still open grave, and threw 
herself into her husband’s arms. 


THE DESCENT INTO HADES. 


259 


Hercules did not wait for thanks ; indeed, with 
Cerberus still on his hands, his only thought was to 
hurry back to Mycenae. It is the strangest picture one 
can think of — a man dragging along the three-headed 
dog of Hades in the open light of day. It was one long 
strain on his whole strength, all day and all night long, 
for many nights and days. But he reached Mycenae at 
last — and into his brazen pot leaped Eurystheus in the 
twinkling of an eye. 

“ I have brought him,” said Hercules. “ Cerberus is 
yours.” 

“ Then,” cried Eurystheus, as well as his terror would 
let him, “be off with you, Cerberus and all. Never 
more be servant of mine ; never let me see your face or 
hear of you again ! ” 

Thus Hercules, by obedient service, won his freedom, 
and his great penance was fulfilled. And the first use 
he made of freedom was to give it to Cerberus, who 
straightway, with a terrible howl, plunged into the 
earth, and disappeared. 


PART X. — THE CHOICE OF HERCULES. 


^\7^ES ; at last Hercules was free, after twelve long 
years of slavery, during which he had scarce 
known a day’s pleasure or ease. It seemed too good to 
be true. 

His only trouble now was what to do with his 
liberty. He was his own master ; the whole world was 
before him, and he was strong enough to do whatever 
he pleased. And while thus thinking what he should 
do with his life and strength, there came to him in the 
middle of the night a vision as of two women, real and 
yet unreal, bringing with them a strange light of their 
own. 

The first to speak was young and beautiful, crowned 
with fiowers, and with a voice as sweet as her smile. 

“ What folly is thinking ! ” said she. “ You have 
toiled enough ; you have won the right to do whatever 
you like best for the rest of your days. No more labor 
to serve another’s will or whim ; no more hateful tasks, 
one ending only for another to begin ; no more cold, 
hunger, thirst, strife with monsters, and self-denial ; 
and all for what? Why, for nothing. My name is 


THE CHOICE OF HEECHLES. 


261 


Pleasure. Choose me for your soul, and you shall have 
Power, Glory, Riches, Comforf, Delight — all your 
Avhole heart’s desire.” 

The other shape wore no flowers : her lips did not 
smile, and the light of her clear bright eyes was cold ; 
and her voice belonged to her eyes. 

“Yet think,” said she, “before you choose, because 
you must choose to-night once for all. W as it Pleasure 
who helped you to rid the people of the ravage of the 
Nemsean lion? No, indeed: she would have bidden 
you stay at home. Was it Pleasure who stood by you 
as you struck off the heads of the Hydra, one by one ? 
No, indeed. Did Pleasure join with you in chasing the 
Erymanthine boar and the stag with the golden horns ? 
Did she clean away the Augean stable ? Did she send 
you forth to free the world of the man-eating birds 
of Lake Stymphalus, and the dreadful Cretan bull, 
and the mares of King Diomedes, and the Giant 
Antseus, and the Ogre Geryon, and Cacus the 
Robber? Did Pleasure save Alcestis from death, 
and break through the very gates of hell? No ; it 
was Obedience. And if obedience to a mere earthly 
master has worked such wonders for the good of all 
mankind, how much more good will come of willing 
obedience to Me?” 

“ And how, then, are you called ? ” asked Hercules, 
looking from one to the other — from the warm 


262 


THE HEKO OF HEROES. 


glowing smile of Pleasure to the grave eyes of the 
form which had last spoken. 

“ Among men I am called Duty,” said she. 

Hercules could not help sighing — for the more he 
looked at Pleasure the more beautiful she grew ; while 
the face of Duty seemed every moment to become more 
stern and cold. 

“ It does seem hard,” said he, “ to use m}^ freedom in 
only making a change of service. But after all, what 
is the good of having more strength than other men, 
except to help them ? It’s true, though I never thought 
of it before. And if Pleasure won’t help me to rid the 
world of the rest of its monsters, and Duty will, why, 
there’s only one thing for a man to do, and that’s to 
choose Duty, and obey her, however hard she may be.” 

Then he went to sleep v^th his mind made up, and 
when he woke in the morning his choice woke with 
him. 

So Hercules, instead of being the servant of Eurys- 
theus, became, of his own free will, the servant of all 
mankind. He made it his work to seek out wrong, and 
never to rest until he had set it right : he traveled 
about the world, carrying everywhere with him the love 
of law and justice, and the worship of the gods, even 
into savage lands where such things had never been 
known. Ogres and monsters disappeared : it seemed 


THE CHOICE OF HERCULES. 


263 


as if his strength were bringing hack the Golden 
Age. 

One day his wanderings brought him into the heart 
of the great mountain-range called Caucasus, a vast and 
dreadful region of snow-covered peaks which no human 
foot had ever climbed. Never had even he known a 
harder labor than to make his way among these icy 
precipices, where every step meant danger. Not a sign 
of life was to be seen or heard, when suddenly he heard 
a terrible cry like that of a giant in pain. 

He looked round ; but saw nothing but the silent 
mountains. Then the cry came again, as if from far 
above him ; and, lifting his eyes to the highest peak of 
all, he was sure that something moved there like the 
flapping of great wings. 

What could it be ? What could be happening upon 
the highest mountain peak in the world ? He set him- 
self to climb its sides, often so steep and icy that he 
was over and over again on the point of giving up in 
despair ; and the higher he climbed the louder and 
more full of agony became the cry. At last, after many 
days of toil, he reached the topmost peak whence the 
cry came, and there he forgot hunger, cold, and weari- 
ness in wonder at what he saw. 

Bound to the rocks by huge chains, so that he could 
not move a limb, lay what seemed a man, bigger than 
Hercules himself, with every muscle drawn and writh- 


264 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


ing in agony. And with good reason, for a gigantic 
and horrible vulture had his limbs in its talons and its 
beak in his heart, which it was fiercely tearing. 

The vulture was too busy at his cruel feast to see 
Hercules. But its tortured victim cried — 

“Depart, whoever you are : I am Prometheus the 
Titan, who tried to conquer the strength of the gods 
by cunning, and am thus punished for my sin forever.” 

And then he sent forth another dreadful cry as the 
vulture plunged its beak into his heart again. 

Prometheus ! Yes ; it was nothing less than Prome- 
theus the Titan, who, when his race was beaten in the 
great battle with the gods of Olympus, had stolen 
fire from heaven, and made Man, and who was thus 
punished for having made what gave the gods such 
trouble. But Hercules, though he knew all this, and 
the story of Pandora besides, exclaimed — 

“ Then, gods or no gods, sin or no sin, this shall not 
be I ” 

And at the word he grasped the vulture by the 
throat, and then followed a struggle beside which 
even his battle with the hell-hound Cerberus had been 
as nothing. For it was no common vulture of the 
mountains : it was the demon of Remoi*se, whose beak 
had not left the heart of Prometheus one moment for 
thousands and thousands of years. But it was over 


THE CHOICE OF HERCULES. 


•265 


at last, and the vulture lay strangled at the feet of 
Hercules. 

To free Prometheus from his chains was the work of 
a moment, and the Titan rose and stretched his free 
limbs with a heart at ease. 

^ * 

* 

What passed between the Titan and the Mortal is 
beyond my guessing, and I have never heard. I only 
know that a mere Man had, by his strength and his 
courage, saved one who was greater and wiser than he 
from Remorse and Despair. I have thought of this 
story till it means too much for me to say anything 
more. Only, if you have forgotten the story of Prome- 
theus and Pandora, I should be glad if you will read it 
again. 


PART XI.— THE TUXIO OF XESSUS. 


ERCULES, passing through the land of Thes- 



saly, fell deeply in love with the Princess ISle, 
daughter of King Eurytus, whom her father, a famous 
archer, had promised in marriage to the man who 
should fly an arrow further than he. 

This Hercules did with such ease that the king, 
angry at being surpassed, refused to perform his . 
promise, so that Hercules went mad with rage and 
sorrow. In a sudden fury he slew Iphitus, a brother of 
lole, and his own friend and comrade, and then, still 
more maddened by what he had done, wandered away 
again to Delphi to ask Apollo’s oracle once more what 
he should do. 

But this time the voice of Apollo was silent. It 
seemed as if, in spite of all he had done for men, the 
gods had turned away their faces from him, and had 
become deaf to his prayers, even to his repentance — 
for he would have given his own life if that would 
bring Iphitus to life again. Were they angry because 
he had saved Prometheus from their vengeance? Or 
were the labors of a life to be lost for one moment of 


THE TUNIC OF NESSUS. 


267 


passion? Then were the gods unjust, and Hercules, 
who abhorred injustice, broke forth against the gods 
themselves. 

“ I will no longer serve such wretches ! ” he cried. 
‘‘ Beings which bring man into the world only to 
torment him, and to be a sport and a jest for them ! I 
will tear down their temples and destroy their altars ; 
I will side with the fallen Titans ; I will sooner bear the 
punishment of Prometheus forever, with none to save 
me, than serve monsters of injustice, who allow man to 
sin and to suffer without help, and then cast him 
away.” 

But Apollo was as deaf to his curses as to his prayers. 
So Hercules put forth his whole strength against the 
temple, and no doubt would have left it a ruin, when, 
from the clear sky there burst such flames and thunders 
that the Titans themselves would have been dismayed. 
And then spoke the oracle at last — 

‘‘ Is this the free service you vowed when you chose 
between Pleasure and Duty? It is the justice of the 
gods that you go back into slavery again until you 
have learned how to be free.” 

The thunder and the lightning ceased, and Hercules 
saw beside him a young man who looked like a travel- 
ing merchant — at least for such he took him, until the 
stranger for one moment stood revealed as the god 
Mercury, with winged heels and cap, and bearing the 


268 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


rod round which two live serpents twined. It was 
only for a moment ; the next, the god became the 
traveling merchant again. 

“As we are to be fellow- travelers,” said Mercury, “I 
will tell you at once that I am under orders from the 
Court of Olympus to take you to market and sell you 
for a slave. Do you submit? Or do you wish to learn 
from me the strength of heaven ? ” 

“I wish I could learn its justice,” said Hercules. 
“ But I suppose I am too stupid to understand. Every- 
thing is so dark and so strange. But what does it all 
matter, after all ? I would as soon be a slave as any- 
thing else, now that I have lost lole and killed my 
friend.” 

“ That is not the right mood,” said Mercury. “It is 
better to rebel, as you did a minute ago, than to think 
that nothing matters, as you do now. However, let 
us go.” 

Mercury was always the most delightful and amusing 
of companions ; and he was very good-natured also, and 
did his best to make the journey cheerful. But, though 
he was the god of Eloquence, and of Business besides, 
he could not persuade anybody to become the purchaser 
of Hercules either by auction or by private bargain. 
Nobody wanted a slave who looked so certain to become 
his master’s master. Besides, people had forgotten all 
his good deeds, and only remembered that he had been 


THE TUNIC OF NESSUS. 


269 


a dangerous madman. But in time they came to a 
country in Asia called Lydia, which was then ruled by 
a queen whose name was Omphale. And she, having 
seen Hercules, was brave enough to buy him. 

Of course Hercules expected that she would ma,ke 
him outdo what he had done for Eurystheus ; and 
nothing would have pleased him better than to be sent 
on the most impossible errands, so that, in toil and 
danger, he might forget his murder of Iphitus and his 
love for lole. Instead, however, of treating him like 
the most glorious hero of his time, and employing him 
on services of honor, she amused herself by giving him 
a spindle and distaff, and setting him to spin among 
her women, while she robed herself in his lion-skin and 
tried to swing his club in her delicate hands. And 
whenever he was clumsy with the distaff, which was 
very often, she would laugh at him, and strike him 
across the face with her slipper. 

For three long years Hercules sat and span among 
Omphale’s handmaids ; and then she, being tired of 
her amusement and of his submission, set him free, 
and gave him back his club and lion-skin. They 
had been three wasted, unwholesome years, and his 
strength had wasted with them ; moreover, his fame 
was being forgotten, and nothing seemed left for him 
to do. How long it seemed since he had fought the 
Hydra and borne upon his shoulders the weight of 


270 


THE HERO OP HEROES. 


the sky — it was as if he had become another and a 
feebler man. 

While waiting to see what should happen, he abode 
at the Court of King TyndS,rus of Sparta, the step- 
father of the great twin brethren. Castor and Pollux, 
and of their sister Helen — the most beautiful woman 
in the whole world ; of whom you will hear more some 
day. And it was while here that he heard of the fame 
of another beautiful woman, the Princess Deianira, 
daughter of King CEneus of ^tolia, whose hand was to 
he the prize of a great wrestling-match to he held at 
Calydon. Hercules, longing for some adventure to 
try his strength again, betook himself thither ; and, 
weakened though he was, overthrew every one of 
his rivals with ease. Then, after his marriage with 
Deianira, he set out with her for the Court of King 
Ceyx of Trachinia, where he intended to remain a 
while. 

But when they reached the river Evenus, which they 
had to cross on their way from Calydon to Trachinia, 
the water was so swollen with heavy rains that Hercules 
did not know how to bring his wife over. As they 
stood wondering what they should do without boat or 
bridge, there cantered up a Centaur, who saw the plight 
they were in, and said — 

“ I am Nessus. If this fair lady will deign to seat 


THE TUNIC OF NESSUS. 


271 


herself upon my back, I will swim over with her 
quickly ; and then I will come back for you also.” 

He spoke frankly and courteously; so Hercules, think- 
ing no harm, lifted Deianira upon the back of the Cen- 
taur, who plunged into the river, and soon reached the 
other side. But on landing, instead of performing his 
promise, he set off at a gallop ; and it was soon clear 
enough that he meant to run away with Deianira, while 
Hercules stood helpless beyond the river. 

He was almost out of sight when Hercules let fly an 
arrow, which had been dipped in the poison of the 
Hydra, with such force and so true an aim that it 
pierced the Centaur without touching Deianira. Nessus 
fell to the earth, and, feeling himself dying, said to her — 

“ I die for love of you ; but I forgive you freely. 
Take my tunic ; for it is of magic power. If your 
husband’s heart ever strays from you, bid him wear it, 
and his love will return to you and never wander again.” 

So saying, he groaned and died ; and Deianira, hav- 
ing taken from him his blood-stained tunic, waited there 
till Hercules, having found a ford higher up the river, 
was able to rejoin her. And so at last they reached the 
Court of King Ceyx, who received them with all kind- 
ness and honor. 

Here they dwelt in great content ; nor was there any 
cause why they should not have spent all their life to 
come in rest and peace, had not, by ill luck, a great 


272 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


war broken out between King Ceyx and King Eurytus 
of Thessaly. Hercules gained the victory for his host ; 
King Eurytus was slain ; and then — among the prison- 
ers of war was the slain king’s daughter, lole ; she on 
whose account Hercules had killed Iphitus, and cursed 
the gods, and been a slave. 

Yet, seeing her again, all thought of Deianira passed 
away from him, and his love for lole was stronger even 
than at first ; while he found that her love had remained 
true to him and unchanged. He could not part from 
her, and so he took her with him to Mount (Eta, where 
he was about to sacrifice to Jupiter in honor of his 
victory. 

The altar was prepared, and the sacrifice was ready, 
when there arrived from Trachinia, the city of King 
Ceyx, his servant Lichas, who knelt before him, and 
said — 

“ The Princess Deianira, your loving wife, has heard 
of this great sacrifice, and sends you by me this tunic, 
which she prays you to wear for her sake, that she may 
have some part in your thanksgiving.” 

But in truth it . was of her husband’s love for lole 
that Deianira had heard ; and therefore she had sent 
him the tunic of Nessus, which was to bring his heart 
back to her again. 

Little she guessed the cunning revenge of the Cen- 
taur, who knew that the arrow of Hercules, in piercing 


THE TUNIC OF NESSUS. 


273 


the tunic, had left upon it a drop of the poison of the 
Hydra. Hercules put on the gift of Deianira, and, 
accompanied only by Prince Philoctetes of Meliboea, 
ascended Mount, GEta to celebrate the sacrifice. But no 
sooner had he reached the altar than the poison began 
to work, eating through his skin into his flesh, even to 
his hones, so that his agony was too great to bear. 

He tried to tear off the fatal tunic ; but the more he 
tore at it the more it clung. At last the agony began 
to gnaw his heart, and he despaired. 

“Would,” he cried, “that I had never been born ! 
My strength has been my curse. I have labored to 
clear the world of evil; and pain and sin are still as 
strong as if the serpents had strangled me in my cradle. 
The Hydra is dead, but its poison goes on working ; 
and open savage force is only changed into fraud and 
guile. Happier is Eurystheus, whom weakness and 
cowardice have kept from doing harm ; wiser are they 
who choose peace and pleasure ; Avho sit with folded 
hands, and let monsters and ogres devour whomsoever 
else they will. As for me, I have been a curse to those 
whom I have loved the best, and leave more evil in the 
world than I found. Tliere is no use in strength, since 
it can be conquered by pain ; nor in subduing others, 
when one cannot master one’s own self ; nor in duty 
without knowledge ; nor in life, which is only blunder 
and misery and toil and sin. The best thing is never 


274 


THE HERO OF HEROES. 


to have been born ; and the next best thing is to 
die.” 

So he gave his bow and arrows to Philoctetes, whom 
he swore to bury his ashes in the earth, and never to 
reveal where they were laid. “For,” said he, “I wish 
to sleep and forget and be forgotten. I will not that 
men shall pay me even so much honor as a tomb.” 
Then he spread his lion skin over the altar, and laid 
himself upon it with his club for a pillow, and bade 
Philoctetes set fire to it, so that he might die, not of 
poison and treachery, but like a man, and of his own 
free will, making himself the sacrifice he had vowed. 

Philoctetes mournfully obeyed. And thus miserably 
perished Het’cules, the greatest and last of the heroes ; 
for after him there came no more. Thus died the 
strongest of men, in the belief that all effort is useless, 
and that he had lived in vain. 

But the gods knew better ; for not once had they 
been unjust, in spite of seeming. They knew both his 
strength and his weakness ; they saw the whole man — 
often foolish and sinful and weak ; often failing and 
falling, but willing what was right, and loving it even 
when he fell into wrong. They judged him by his 
whole life, not by its wretched end, when he was 
maddened by passion and tortured by pain. The gods 
remembered how he had chosen between Pleasure and 


THE TUNIC OF NESSUS. 


275 


Duty ; how he had striven with Tartarus for the life of 
Alcestis; how he had scaled Caucasus because he had 
heard a cry of pain ; how, even when he cursed the 
gods at Delphi, it was because he thought them unjust, 
and because he loved justice and hated injustice with 
his whole soul and being. He might hold his own 
service cheap ; but not they, for, with the gods, effort 
cannot fail : to fight is the same thing as to conquer. 
If Hercules had cut off ninety-nine of the Hydra’s 
heads, and been slain by the hundredth, men would still 
have held him a hero. And so was it with the gods. 
They had watched his long battle with the Hydra of 
Life and Evil, and did not condemn him because he was 
slain before the end. 

And so, in the fire of the altar on Mount CEta, his 
pains, his sins, his weaknesses, were purged away. 
And even as he was the only mortal who ever conquered 
Tartarus, so was he the only one who ever received 
such reward. Instead of being sent among the happy 
shades of the Elysian fields, he was received into the 
glory of Olympus, among the gods themselves, there, 
with strength made pure and perfect, to serve and help 
mankind forever. 


THE APPLE OF DISOOED. 


""^TEVER was such a wedding-feast known as that of 
Peleus and Thetis. And no wonder; for Peleus 
was King of Thessaly, and Thetis was a goddess — the 
goddess who keeps the gates of the West, and throws 
them open for the chariot of the Sun to pass through 
when its day’s journey is done. 

Not only all the neighboring kings and queens eame 
to the feast, but the gods and goddesses besides, bpjig- 
ing splendid presents to the bride and bridegroom. 
Only one goddess was not there, because she had not 
been invited ; and she had not been invited for the best 
of all reasons. Her name was Ate, which means Mis- 
chief ; and wherever she went she caused quarreling 
and confusion. Jupiter had turned her out of lieaven 
for setting even the . gods by the ears ; and ever 
since then she had been wandering about the earth, 
making mischief, for they would not have her even in 
Hades. 

“ So they won’t have Me at their feast ! ” she said to 
herself, when she heard the sound of the merriment to 
which she had not been bidden. “ Very-' well; they 


'HE APPLE OF DISCORD. 


277 


shall be sorry. I see a way to make a bigger piece of 
mischief than ever was known.” 

So she took a golden apple, wrote some words upon it, 
and, keeping herself out of sight, threw it into the very 
middle of the feasters, just when they were most merry. 

Nobody saw where the apple came from ; but of 
course they supposed it had been thrown among them 
for frolic ; and one of the guests, taking it up, read 
aloud the words written on it. The words were : — 

“ For the Most Beautiful ! ” 

— nothing more. 

“What a handsome present somebody has sent me ! ” 
said Juno, holding out her hand for the apple. 

“Sent youf^’’ asked Diana. “What an odd mistake, 
to be sure ! Don’t you see it is for the most beautiful ? 
I will thank you to hand me what is so clearly intended 
for Mer 

“You seem to forget I am present !” Sc1,id Vesta, 
making a snatch at the apple. 

“ Not at all ! ” said Ceres ; “ only I happen to be'- 
here, too. And who doubts- that where I am there is 
the most beautiful? ” 

“Except where Jam,” said Proserpine. 

“ What folly is all this ! ” said Minerva, the wise. 
“ Wisdom is the only true beauty ; and everybody 
knows that I. am the wisest of you all.’ 


278 


THE APPLE OF DISCORD. 


“ But it’s for the most beautiful I ” said Venus. 
“ The idea of its being for anybody but Me ! ” 

Then every nymph and goddess present, and even 
every woman, put in her claim, until from claiming and 
disputing it grew to arguing and wrangling and down- 
right quarreling : insults flew about, until the merri- 
ment grew into an angry din, the like of which had 
never been heard. But as it became clear that it was 
impossible for everybody to be the most beautiful, the 
claimants gradually settled down into three parties — 
some taking the side of Venus, others of Juno, others 
of Minerva. 

“We shall never settle it among ourselves,” said 
one, when all were fairly out of breath with quarreling. 
“ Let the gods decide.” 

For the gods had been silent all the while ; and now 
they looked at one another in dismay at such an appeal. 
Jupiter, in his heart, thought Venus the most beautiful; 
but how could he dare decide against either his wife 
Juno or his daughter Minerva? Neptune hated 
Minerva on account of their old quarrel ; but it was 
awkward to choose between his daughter Venus and his 
sister Juno, of whose temper he, as well as Jupiter, 
stood in awe. Mars was ready enough to vote for 
Venus ; but then he was afraid of a scandal. And so 
with all the gods — not one was bold enough to decide 
on such a terrible question as the beauty of three rival 


THE APPLE OF DISCORD. 


279 


goddesses who were ready to tear out each other’s eyes. 
For Juno was looking like a thunder -cloud, and 
Minerva like lightning, and Venus like a smiling 
but treacherous sea. 

“I have it,” said Jupiter at last. “Men are better 
judges of beauty than the gods are, who never see any- 
thing but its perfection. King Priam of Troy has a 
son named Paris, whose judgment as a critic I would 
take even before my own. I propose that you, Juno, 
and you, Minerva, and you, Venus, shall go together 
before Paris and submit yourselves to his decision, 
whatever it may be.” 

And so it was settled, for each of the three goddesses 
was equally sure that, whoever the judge might be, the 
golden apple was safe to be hers. The quarrel came to 
an end, and the feast ended pleasantly ; but Ate, who 
had been watching and listening, laughed in her 
sleeve. 

Troy, where King Priam reigned, was a great and 
ancient city on the shore of Asia : it was a sacred city, 
whose walls had been built by Neptune, and it possessed 
the Palladium, the image of Minerva, which kept it 
from all harm. Priam — -who had been the friend of 
Hercules — and his wife Hecuba had many sons and 
daughters, all brave and noble princes and beautiful 
princesses ; and of his sons, while the bravest and 


280 


THE APPLE OP DISCORD. 


noblest was his first-born, Hector, the handsomest and 
most amiable was Paris, whom Jupiter had appointed 
to be the judge of beauty. 

Paris, unlike his brothers, cared nothing for affairs 
of State, but lived as a shepherd upon Mount Ida with 
his wife CEnone, a nymph of that mountain, in perfect 
happiness and peace, loved and honored by the whole 
country round, which had given him the name of 
“ Alexander,” which means “ The Helper.” One would 
think that if anybody was safe from the mischief of 
Ate, it was he. 

But one day, while he was watching his flocks and 
thinking of CEnone, there came to him what he took 
for three beautiful women — the most beautiful he had 
ever seen. Yet something told him they were more 
than mere women, or even than Oreads, before the 
tallest said — 

“ There is debate in Olympus which is the most 
beautiful of us three, and Jupiter has appointed you to 
be the judge between us. I am Juno, the queen of 
gods and men, and if you decide for me, I will make 
you king of the whole world.” 

“ And I,” said the second, “ am Minerva, and you 
shall know ever3rthing in the whole universe if you 
decide for me.” 

“But I,” said the third, “am Venus, who can give 
neither wisdom nor power ; but if you decide for me, I 


THE APPLE OF DISCOPD. 


281 


will give you the love of the most beautiful woman 
that ever was or ever will be born.” 

Paris looked from one to the other, wondering to 
which he should award the golden apple, the prize of 
beauty. He did not care for power : he would be quite 
content to rule his sheep, and even that was not always 
easy. Nor did he care for wisdom or knowledge : he 
had enough for all his needs. Nor ought he to have 
desired any love but CEnone’s. But then Venus was 
really the most beautiful of all the goddesses — the 
very goddess of beauty; no mortal could refuse any- 
thing she asked him, so great was her charm. So he 
took the apple and placed it in the hands of Venus 
without a word, while Juno and Minerva departed in a 
state of wrath with Paris, Venus, and each other, which 
made Ate laugh to herself more than ever. 

Now the most beautiful woman in the whole world 
was Helen, step-daughter of King TyndSrus of Sparta, 
and sister of Castor and Pollux : neither before her nor 
after her has there been any to compare with her for 
beauty. Thirty-one of the noblest princes in Greece 
came to her father’s Court at the same time to seek her 
in marriage, so that Tyndarus knew not what to do, 
seeing that, whomsoever he chose for his son-in-law, he 
would make thirty powerful enemies. The most famous 
among them were Ulysses, King of the island of Ithaca ; 


282 


THE APPLE OF DISCORD. 


Diomed, King of JEtolia ; Ajax, King of SalSmis, the 
bravest and strongest man in Greece ; his brother 
Teucer ; Philoctetes, the friend of Hercules ; and 
Menelaus, King of Sparta. At last, as there was no 
other way of deciding among them, an entirely new 
idea occurred to Ulysses — namely, that Helen should 
be allowed to choose her own husband herself, and that, 
before she chose, all the rival suitors should make a 
great and solemn oath to approve her choice, and to 
defend her and her husband against all enemies thence- 
forth and forever. This oath they all took loyally and 
with one accord, and Helen chose Menelaus, King of 
Sparta, who married her with great rejoicing, and took 
her away to his kingdom. 

And all would have gone well but for that wretched 
apple. For Venus was faithful to her promise that the 
most beautiful of all women should be the wife of Paris ; 
and so Menelaus, returning from a journey, found that 
a Trojan prince had visited his Court during his 
absence, and had gone away, taking Helen with him to 
Troy. This Trojan prince was Paris, who, seeing 
Helen, had forgotten (Enone, and could think of nothing 
but her whom Venus had given him. 

Then, through all Greece and all the islands, went 
forth the summons of King Menelaus, reminding the 
thirty princes of their great oath : and each and all of 
them, and many more, came to the gathering-place with 


THE APPLE OF DISCORD. 


283 


all their ships and all their men, to help Menelaus and to 
bring back Helen. Such a host as gathered together at 
Aulis had never been seen since the world began ; there 
were nearly twelve hundred ships and more than a hun- 
dred thousand men : it was the first time that all the 
Greeks joined together in one cause. There, besides those 
who had come for their oath’s sake, were Nestor, the old 
King of Pylos — so old that he remembered Jason and 
the Golden Fleece, but, at ninety years old, as ready for 
battle as the youngest there ; and Achilles, the son of 
Peleus and Thetis, scarcely more than a boy, but fated 
to outdo the deeds of the bravest of them all. The 
kings and princes elected Agamemnon, King of Mycense 
and Argos, and brother of Menelaus, to be their general- 
in-chief ; and he forthwith sent a herald to Troy to 
demand the surrender of Helen. 

But King Priam was indignant that these chiefs of 
petty kingdoms should dare to threaten the sacred city 
of Troy : and he replied to the demand by a scornful 
challenge, and by sending out his summons also to his 
friends and allies. And it was as well answered as 
that of Menelaus had been. There came to his standard 
Rhesus, with a great army from Thrace ; and Sarpedon, 
the greatest king in all Asia ; and Memnon, king of 
Ethiopia, with twenty thousand men — the hundred 
thousand Greeks were not so many as the army of 
Priam. Then Agamemnon gave the order to sail for 


284 


THE APPLE OF DISCORD. 


Troy ; and Ate laughed aloud, for her apple had 
brought upon mankind the First Great War. 


And now I seem to be waking from a dream which is 
fading away. The gods are becoming shadows, vanish- 
ing farther and farther away from man. I could tell 
you, if I would, the story of how Troy was taken and 
burned after ten years of fighting, and how Priam and 
his sons were slain ; of the wonderful adventures of 
Ulysses by sea and land before he returned home ; of 
the deeds of Achilles and Hector ; of how the few 
Trojans who escaped the slaughter followed Prince 
^neas into Italy, where he made a kingdom, and was 
the forefather of Romulus, who built the city of Rome ; 
which brings us from Mythology — the stories of gods 
and heroes — into History — the stories of men. All 
these things came from Ate’s apple : yes, even the 
history of Rome, and of England, and of all the world. 

You will read in the great poems of Homer the story 
of the siege of Troy and the wanderings of Ulysses ; 
and in the “ ^neid ” of Virgil — to my mind the very 
greatest of all poems — the whole story of ^neas. 
But my stories end where the great poets begin theirs. 
I seem, as I have said, to have been dreaming a long 
dream : and before I quite wake I see the gods growing 
fainter and fainter, year by year and century by century, 


THE APPLE OF DISCORD. 


285 


while men and women believed in them less and less, 
until — when they were well-nigh forgotten, or thought 
of only as poets’ fables — there came a great loud cry 
which made the whole world sigh and tremble : — 

“ Pan is Dead ! ” 

men heard all Nature cry ; and they knew it to mean 
that the last of the gods was no more ; that a new time 
had come for the world. And that same night a star 
rose into sight at Bethlehem, and stood over the manger 
where a young Child lay. 

And yet, gone and lost though the gods be, you will 
be very blind indeed if you never catch a glimpse of a 
Dryad in the woods or of an Oread on the hill ; if you 
never think of Hercules when things seem against you 
and hard to understand ; if you do not see in Perseus 
the true knight that a true man should strive to be. 
What more shall I say before I lay down my pen? 
Only that these stories are not nonsense — no, not one 
of them ; that the more one thinks of them the wiser 
he is ; and that I love them so much, and think so 
much of what made me begin them, that I cannot 
believe that I have come to the end. 



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A LIST OF ALL THE BOOKS INCLUDED IN OUR 


SCHOOL LIBRARIES 

ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. 


For the convenience of those who may wish to make up a list of 
their own for a home or school library, all the books mentioned in 
our School Library Catalogue are here arranged under their titles or 
the name of their authors. The price of each book and a few words 
of descriptive matter are also added for the benefit of any who may 
wish to make up a special list of books for school or home use. 
Arrange your list and write to us for details. 


^SOp’s Fables. With a Supplement containing other Fables 50 

A simple version of the immortal fables of Aisop, which draw helpful 
moral lessons from the imaginary actions and words of animals. 

Andersen’s Fairy Tales. Two series Each .50 

A convenient and well-arranged edition of these famous fairy tales, in 
which the animal kingdom and the inanimate world are drawn upon for 
the most wholesome lessons. 

Andrews’ Seven Little Sisters .50 

The seven sisters represent the seven races, and the book shows how people 
live in the various parts of the world, what their manners and customs are, 
what the products of each section are, and how they are interchanged. 

Andrews’ Each and All .50 

This continues the story of Seven Little Sisters, and tells more of the 
peculiarities of the various races, especially in relation to childhood. 

Andrews’ Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children 50 

Dame Nature here unfolds some of her most precious secrets. She tells 
about the amber, about the dragon-fly and its wonderful history, about water- 
lilies, how the Indian corn grows, what queer pranks the Frost Giants indulge 
in, about coral, and starfish, and coal mines, and many other things that 
children delight to read about. 

Andrews’ Ten Boys (who lived on the road from long ago to now) 50 

The genial Quaker poet, Whittier, on^e wrote golden words of praise of 
this book. He said : “ I know of nothing, in many respects, equal to this 
remarkable book, which contains in its small compass the concentrated 
knowledge of vast libraries.” 


( 27 ) 


Andrews* Geographical Plays I.oo 

These plays are well written, and are calculated to produce an animating 
effect upon a school. 

Arahian WigiltS. Edited by Edward E. Hale 50 

A collection of some of the finest and best known of these classic tales, 
edited by a literary man of high standing. 

Arnold's English Literature 1.50 

A sterling and standard text-book. 

Aurelius, Marcus 50 

The grandest thoughts of this royal philosopher. 

Ball's Starlaud 1.00 

This book, based upon two courses of Christmas lectures d^ivered to 
children at the Royal Institution, Great Britain, is something of rare quality, 
— lucid, fascinating, — and yet thoroughly scientific. 

Ballon’s Footprints of Travel 1.00 

A noteworthy, supplementary reading-book in geography, which is sure to 
interest and instruct pupils. 

BeUamy and Goodwin’s Open Sesame. VOls. I, n and III Each .75 

Three remarkable books containing a thousand pieces of the choicest 
prose and verse. The volumes are characterized by clear, large type, fine 
illustrations, and handsome bindings. 

Bergen’s Glimpses at the Plant World 50 

An interesting supplementary reader for lower grades, and an excellent 
collateral book for any student at work along botanical lines. 

Blaisdell’s Child’s Book of Health 30 

An elementary text-book on Physiology, in easy lessons for children. 

Blaisdell’s How to Keep Well 45 

A text-book on Physiology, written in an attractive style for boys and 
girls. 

Blaisdell’s Onr Bodies and How We Live 65 

An original and unique text-book on health for young folks. 

Browning (Robert). Introduction to his Poetry 1.00 

Banyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress 40 

The world’s favorite classic, which is as fresh to-day as it was the first day 
it was published. 

Chesterfield’s Letters 35 

An old-time classic which every young man should read and re-read. 

Church’s Stories of the Old World 50 

The most famous classical stories, which all should know. 

Comegys’ Primer of Ethics 40 

A choice little book in which young people are taught in the most direct 
and simple manner truth, obedience, industry, and other virtues. 

BeFoe’s Robinson Crusoe SO 

Every boy’s favorite book, that never grows old or dull. 

Don Quixote 60 

The immortal story, written, in prison, that has made the world laugh for 
three centuries. 

Epictetus 50 

The wisest precepts of this profound philosopher. 

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Everett’s Ethics for Young: People 50 

This little book treats of common, everyday duties to one’s self and to 
others. 

Francillon’s Gods and Heroes 60 

Stories of the gods and heroes, which children delight to read. 

Franklin’s Autobiography SO 

A work of the greatest interest and value, — wise precepts illustrated by 
the life of a great man. 

Frye’s Brooks and Brook Basins 58 

This is a Geographical Reader. It makes a new departure in the subject 
matter of primary geographies. 

Frye’s Child and Nature 80 

This little book is the only work on sand-modeling ever published. 

Fulton and Truehlood’s Choice Readings from Popular and Standard 

Authors 1.50 

The distinctive feature of this book is the number, variety, and interest 
of the pieces. 

Garnett’s Selections in English Prose from Elizabeth to Victoria I.SO 

The object of this book is to provide students with the texts of the most 
prominent writers of English prose. 

Gayley’s Classic Myths in English Literature 1.50 

The best manual of Mythology in the market. It is indispensable to the 
student of English literature. 

Goldsmith’s Vicar of Wakefield 50 

A book that every one must read, — ever new, ever fresh ; never dull. 

Grote and Sugar’s Two Great Retreats of History 50 

Equally valuable as history and as an argument for peace. 

Hale’s Little Flower People 40 

The aim of this book is to tell some of the most important elementary 
facts of plant-life in such a way as to appeal to the child’s imagination and 
curiosity, and to awaken an observant interest in the facts themselves. 


Hall’s Our World Reader 50 

The charm of the book is its simplicity of style and vividness of description. 

Hapgood’s School Needlework. Teachers’ Edition 75 

Full of practical hints and suggestions for teaching the lessons. No 
progressive teacher can afford to do without it. 

Hapgood’s School Needlework 50 

A useful and interesting book ; decidedly superior to other books on the 
subject. 

Hudson’s Life, Art, and Characters of Shakespeare. Two vols. 4.00 


The most valuable and original analysis of Shakespeare’s characters ever 
written. 


Hudson’s Shakespeare’s Plays. Harvard Edition, lo volumes 20.00 

Hudson’s Shakespeare’s Plays. Harvard Edition. 20 volumes 25.00 

Hudson’s Shakespeare’s Plays. School Edition lO.OO 

Hudson’s Shakespeare’s Plays. 3 volumes Each r.25 

(29) 


Hudson’s Text-Book of Prose 


1.25 


Hudson’s Text-Book of Poetry I.2S 

Hudson’s Classical English Reader I.OO 

The three preceding books are universally recognized as sterling books 
written by a sterling author. 

Hughes’ Tom Brown at Rughy 60 

A good edition of the classic of school-boy life, possibly the greatest of 
books for boys, with its vivid presentation of scenes and experiences at the 
great English school, and its introduction of Dr. Arnold. 

Irving’s Alhambra 50 

An unquestioned classic; not the less interesting to American teachers 

and pupils because it is the work of an American author. 

Irving’s Sketch Book 35 

' Six popular selections from the most notable of all American classical 
works. 

Irving’s Life of Washington (abridged) 1.00 

Where can a better book be found to impart a taste for historical reading ? 

Johnson’s Rasselas 40 

A famous moral and philosophical tale. 

Kingsley’s Greek Heroes 50 

One of the most charming of the books that reproduce the old Grecian 
stories, so full of life and literary worth. 

Kingsley’s Water Babies 50 

An interesting and instructive fairy tale for young folks, written in a 
charming style. 

Lamb’s Adventures of Ulysses 35 

A classic story retold by one of the masters of English prose. 

Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare 50 

This is the best introduction to Shakespeare ever written. Of special 
interest to young people. 

Lambert’s Memory Gems .30 

Three hundred and forty-six “ Gems” selected from more than one hundred 
and fifty authors. 

Litchfield’s Nine Worlds 50 

This book tells, in a simple way, the story of the old Norse gods. 

MacVicar’s Principles of Education 60 

This small volume, written by an eminent educator, is intended especially 
for teachers and such as are preparing to teach. 


Martineau’s Peasant and Prince 50 

It gives, in pleasing story form, a good idea of the stormy scenes of the 
French Revolution and the causes that led to them. 


Minto’s Manual of English Prose Literature 1.50 

Minto’s Characteristics of the English Poets 1,50 

Two of the ablest and most interesting books ever written on the subject 
of English literature. 

Montgomery’s Selection of Heroic Ballads 50 

A carefully chosen collection of the most stirring and inspiring pieces in 
the English language. 


( 30 ) 


Montgromery's Beginner’s American History 60 

This book is a new departure; it is almost purely biographical The 
history of the nation being presented in the stories of the lives of the founders 
and builders of America. 


Montgomery’s Leading Facts of American History I.OO 

A panorama of the leading features of American history. 

Montgomery’s Leading Facts of French History I.I2 


A history of France set forth in a clear and attractive narrative. 


Montgomery’s Leading Facts of English History I.I2 

A panorama of the leading features of English history. 

Moore’s Pilgrims and Puritans 60 

This is a book of easy reading, containing sketches of the early days of 
Massachusetts, based upon original documents. 

Moore’s From Colony to Commonwealth 6Q 


The book is second in the series of which “ Pilgrims and Puritans ” is the 
first. These two little volumes are intended as an introduction to the study 
of United States history in school or at home. 


Myers’ General History 1.50 

Myers’ Mediaeval and Modern History 1.50 

Myers’ Ancient History 1.50 

The three preceding books are remarkable histories of the times mentioned, 
written in a clear, interesting, and suggestive style. 

Newcomer’s Practical Course in English Composition 80 

A useful and practical book on the subject. 

Newell’s Outlines of Lessons in Botany. Part 1 50 

Newell’s Outlines of Lessons in Botany. Part n 80 

Hardly any subject can be made more interesting to young people than 
Botany, presented according to the method of this charming author of the 
two preceding books. 

Plutarch’s Lives. Edited by Edwin Ginn 50 

Plutarch’s Lives is one of the world’s classics. 

Prince’s Courses and Methods 75 

A good book for teachers, because it gives a simple and direct statement 
of good methods, of organizations, teaching, and discipline. 

Ruskin’s King of the Golden River 25 

An interesting fairy tale, teaching some excellent lessons of life, and written 
in Ruskin’s admirable style. 

Ruskin’s Lectures on Books and Reading, and other Selections 40 

Representative writings of a great critic and master of English prose. 

Scott’s Guy Mannering 75 

Valuable for its realistic presentation of life in Scotland in the last century. 

Scott’s Ivanhoe 75 

This, one of the great works of fiction, is of historical value for its graphic 
pictures of the Saxons and Normans in England after the Norman occupa- 
tion of the land, and its side references to the Crusades. 

Scott’s Lady of the Lake 50 

A well-edited edition of Scott’s most popular poem. 

( 31 ) 


Scott's Lay of the last Minstrel 

Graphic pictures of the old border life in its varied phases. 

Scott’s Marmion SO 

Nothing is better fitted to interest young readers in literature. 

Scott’s Old MortaUty 75 

A story of the old Covenanter times. 

Scott’s Quentin Durward SO 

Especially valuable for its vivid account of Louis XL of France and his 
relations with Charles the Bold of Burgundy. 

Scott’s Rob Roy 75 

Introduces the Highland chieftain Rob Roy, and pictures the romantic life 
in Scotland in the days of the “ Old Pretender.” 

Scott’s Tales of a Grandfather 50 

One of the very best historical books for young folks. 

Scott’s Talisman 60 

This great novel gives a graphic picture of the Crusades. 

Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice 45 

Specially adapted for young people by the omission of some portions. 

Shaler’s Story of Our Continent 75 

This is a book of rare and singular merit. . 

Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels 40 

The two most interesting portions of Swift’s great satirical story. The 
style is the finest in the language for directness and force, 

Swiss Family Robinson 50 

One of the most popular classics of adventure, giving an account of the 
imagined doings of a family cast on an out-of-the-way island. It is full of 
information and of stimulus to self-reliance and noble character. 

Thayer’s Best Elizabethan Plays 1.25 

A welcome book to all interested in the scholarly editions of our enduring 
classics. , 

Wentworth and Hill’s Exercises in Arithmetic 80 

No teacher of Arithmetic can afford to do without this. 

Williams’ and Foster’s Choice Selections for Memorizing SO 

The title of the book explains the scope of the book. The selections are 
carefully made and well graded. 

Wiltse’s Stories for Kindergartens and Primary Schools 35 

Wiltse’s Kindergarten Stories and Morning Talks 75 

Wiltse’s Grimm’s Fairy Tales. First Series SO 

Wiltse’s Place of the Story in Early Education, etc SO 

The four preceding books are written by a teacher of long experience, as 
well as a successful writer of stories. 

FULL, DESORIPnVB CIRCULARS OF THESE 
BOOKS SENT FREE TO ANY ADDRESS. 


( 32 ) 


" UNIQUE, PEACTICAL, AND FULL OF COMMON SENSE.” 


PRINCE’S ARITHMETIC BY GRADES 

By JOHN T. PRINCE, 

Agent of the Massachusetts Board of Education, and author of Courses of 
Studies and Methods of Teaching'’' 


FOR INDUCTIVE TEACHING, DRILLING, AND TESTING. 


EIGHT BOOKS. Square i2mo. Flexible cloth. From 86 to ii8 pages 
each. For introduction, 20 cents. 


TEACHERS’ MANUAL. For Teachers using Arithmetic by Grades. 

Square i2mo. Cloth. 225 pages. For introduction, 80 cents. 

This unique and attractive series of text-books consists of a Teachers’ 
Manual and eight small books for pupils, arranged somewhat on the 
lines of classification in city graded schools. 

The idea of a neat, compact, and inexpensive drill book for each 
grade, with a manual for the teachers, is showing results in a larger 
amount of work accomplished, a more thorough understanding of prin- 
ciples, and greater ease in applying them ; also in convenience, neat- 
ness, and economy of wear. 

Many good teachers assure us that the Prince books bid fair to drive 
out eventually the old-fashioned text-book in arithmetic from the field. 

The Teacher’s Manual is devoted to suggestions as to methods of 
teaching and drilling, as well as the illiistrative processes, explanations, 
rules, and definitions which belong to the teacher to develop analytically. 


L. H. JONES, Supt. of Schools, 
Indianapolis, Ind. : The plan is unique, 
and withal so practical and full of common 
sense that one does not well see why it 
had not been followed by others before. 
The books seem admirably adapted to 
their grades, and supply excellent work 
for practice. In doing this work, Mr. 
Prince has again laid the educational 
world under obligations. 

EDWARD SEARING, Pres, of State 
Normal School, Mankato, Minn.: After 
a full inspection and comparison of several 
different series, we have finally decided to 
select your Prince’s Arithmetics, as best 
suited to the needs of the work in our 
grades. 

Supt. F. TREUDLEY, Youngs- 
town, Ohio : I think it a most admirable 
series of books, full of suggestive prob- 
lems, and of a character to insure mental 
development. 


GEORGE H. MARTIN, Supervisor 
of Schools, Boston : It is not only unique 
in place among American arithmetics, but 
it abounds in novel features, which are 
seen at once to be both philosophical and 
practical. 

ELLEN HYDE, Prin. of Normal 
School, Framingham, Mass. : These 
little books take a much needed and long 
step in the right direction, — the direc- 
tion of thoroughness and self-dependence. 
Their careful grading, the large amount 
of drill and constant reviews tend to 
thoroughness. 

M. L. PALMER, Supt. of Schools, 
Jackson, Mich. : Prince’s Arithmetics 
are giving us excellent satisfaction in our 
first five grades. The books are logical, 
are well arranged as to sulriect matter, 
and are intensely practical. I can recom- 
mend them as the best I have ever seen. 


GINN & COMPANY, Publishers, Boston, New York, Chicago. 


THE HIGHEST AUTHORITIES ENDORSE IN EMPHATIC TERMS 


Frye’s Primary Geography. 


Prom the Chairman of the Committee of Ten. 

Charles W. EUot, President of Harvard University : I wish to congratulate you 
on your achievement. In both method and execution, your Primary Geography seems 
to me to be a great advance. 

From the Members of the Conference on Geography, including 
all but one of the living signers of the Report. 

T. C. Chamberlin, Professor of Geology, University of Chicago : It is a very great 
advance in the right direction. 

Georgre L. Collie, Professor of Geology, Beloit College, Wis. : I cannot express to 
you my pleasure in looking over this work, to find that it fulfills so many of my ideals of 
what a geography ought to be. 

W. M. Davis, Professor of Physical Geography, Harvard University : The book 
cannot fail to be well received and highly prized in our lower schools. 

Edwin J. Houston, Electrical Engineer, Philadelphia: I consider its general 
arrangement and method of treatment excellent. 

Mark W. Harrington, Chief of the United States Weather Bureau: I am not 
only pleased with the plan of the book and its execution, but I have submitted it to 
another test . . . that has been entirely satisfactory. I congratulate you on this 
departure in geography. 

Charles F. King, Master of Dearborn School, Boston : The work meets my most 
hearty approval. It is the best primary geography I have yet seen. 

Israel c. Russell, Professor of Geology, University of Michigan : It seems to me to 
be the best book of its kind that has ever come under my notice. The method of treating 
the subject as well as the truthfulness and vividness with which the various topics are 
presented and the beauty and faithfulness of the illustrations make it an admirable 
beginning for the study of modem geography. 

George M. Philips, Principal State Normal School, West Chester, Pa. : I was so 
favorably impressed with Frye’s Primary Geography that I at once introduced it into 
our Model School, and now we use no other geography in that department. We like it 
very much. 

From Eminent Scientists and School Men. 

N. S. Shaler, Professor of Geology, Harvard University : I am very much pleased 
with it. ... I congratulate the^uthor and his publishers on the success attained. 

Frank A. Hill, Secretary Massachusetts State Board of Education: Marvelously 
beautiful and fascinating. 

W. W. Speer, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Chicago: I think Frye’s 
Geography marks a new era in text-book making. It is the most practical Geography 
published. It meets the demands both of education and of geography. 

J. M. Greenwood, Superintendent of Schools, Kansas City, Mo. : By all odds, the 
best book of its kind that has been published in this country. 

W. E. Robinson, Superintendent of Schools, Detroit, Mich. : I find it the best 
thing of the kind I have ever seen. We have already placed it on our list of text-books. 

A. C. Hill, Department of Public Instruction, Albany, N. Y.: Frye’s Primary 
Geography is an excellent book in matter and typography. It is up to date in its plan 
for teaching this subject. 


GINN & COMPANY, Publishers 




I 




FOR CHILDREN. 


CLASSICS 


Choice Literature; Judi 
Firm Bindil 


For a full description of t„cse ba 


Aesop’s Fables. 

Andersen’s Fairy Tales. First 
0 Series. ^ 

Andersen’s Fairy Tales. Second ' 
Series. 

J-Ji'i'tvau’s Pilgrim’s Progress. 

Purt's '•'lories from Plato. 

Chester) Leld’s Letters. 

Cbnrch’.5 ^)tories of the Old 
'.V orits 

i ^.foe’- '’obinson Crusoe. 

'Dickens’ "T'ale of Two Cities, 
v^ervantes’ Don Quixote of La 
Mancha. 

Epictetus. 

Fiske Trvhig’s Washington and 
His Co untry. 

Francillon’s Gods and Heroes. 
Franklin : His Life by Himself. 
Goldsmith’s Vicar of Wakefield. 
Grimm’s Fairy '^"ales, Part 1. 
t.Vimin’s Fairy 1 ales, Part 11. 
G.rote av Segur’s Two Great 
"^Retreats. 

Hale's Arabian N./hts. 

''u.>Mds<ni and Lamb’s Merchant of 

' ^ f'- 

J igh .i' Turn Brown at Rugby, 
irviag s \lhambra. 


LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



0 QQES 771 baD a 

w 

I Irving’s Sketch-Book. (Six Se- 
lections.) 

Johnson’s Rasselas. 

Kingsley’s Greek Heroes. 

Kingsley’s Water Babies. 

La nb’s Adventures of Ulysses. 
'"Lanib’s Tales from Shakespeare. 

K arcus Aurelius. 

Martineau’s ''Peasant and the 
Prince, y 

Montgcmerys Heroic Ballads. 
Idutarch s Lives. 

Ruskin’s King of tb.i Golden 
River. 

Selections from Ruskin. 

Scott’s Guy Mannering. 

Ivanhoe. 

Lady of the Lake. 

Lay of the Last Minstrel. 
Marmion. 

Old Mortalit} 

Quentin Durward. 

Rob Roy. 

Tales of a Grandfather. 
Talisman. 

Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. 

S\ illiams and Foster’s Selection;. 

for Memorizing. 

Wyss’ Swiss Family Robinson. 


CINN & COMPANY, Publishers 

BOSTON, NEW YORK, AND CHICAGO. 


